The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to sell its headquarters in London’s Bishopgate, the bank has confirmed.
Agents have been appointed to handle the sale of the 250,000 m2 site in the City of London, which is anticipated to fetch in the region of £173 mln (€199 mln).
Rumours have been circulating since early 2018 that the bank – one of the institutions responsible for the 2008 financial crisis – would sell the asset as a cost-cutting measure. Also closing are around 350 RBS branches and 630 Natwest branches.
Confirming plans to sell the site, a company spokesperson said last year: ‘As we become a simpler, smaller UK-focused bank and as we encourage more flexible ways of working, we no longer require the same amount of office space as we once did.'
In the first quarter of 2019, profits for RBS – which remains majority-owned by the UK government, after being bailed out to the tune of £45 bn by the taxpayer in 2008 - dropped to £707 mln from £808 mln in the same quarter last year.
