The Shard's offices are now fully let thanks to Warwick Business School

Real Estate Management Limited (REM) has, on behalf of the building’s owners, announced today (October 2) that The Shard’s offices are now fully let following the expansion of Warwick Business School (WBS).

The academic institution, which has one of the most prestigious executive MBA programmes in Europe, has increased the footprint of its flagship London campus in The Shard by a further 52 per cent to a total of 18,500 sq ft.

WBS’s ‘campus in the sky’ opened in September 2014 after transforming 12,150 sq ft of office space on Level 17 into a lecture theatre, seminar rooms and an information technology laboratory. The institute is now taking a further 6,342 sq ft on Level 13 to house a second lecture theatre.

Michael Baker, chief executive officer of REM, the asset manager of The Shard, said: “We have always had a clear vision for The Shard - to create a vertical city with a diverse range of use classes and a varied community of occupiers.

“It has not been without its challenges, not least because the building was delivered during one of the worst economic downturns in history.

“We phased our approach and took the strategic decision to deliver the leisure occupiers first to ensure our office occupiers would benefit from [such] amenities.”

Earlier this month Foresight, whose group chairman Bernard Fairman originally coined the phrase ‘The Shard Effect’ to explain the positive impact the building has had on its occupiers’ businesses, announced it was expanding for the third time.

Foresight agreed to increase its total footprint in The Shard to 27,853 sq ft. A number of other occupiers have undergone similar expansions, including Duff & Phelps and MATCHESFASHION.COM.

The Shard’s offices are occupied by 31 businesses including household names and market leaders from a diverse range of industries including fashion, legal, finance, consumer goods, healthcare, media and technology.

Overall a total of eight different classes operate over its 72 floors, providing additional amenities for the office occupiers, encouraging visitors to the building and its surrounding neighbourhood.

Originally conceptualised 17 years ago, The Shard has been instrumental in the transformation of the London Bridge area by attracting investment and facilitating the creation of new jobs.

James Sellar, chief executive officer of Sellar, developer and co-owner of The Shard, also commented: “We have achieved what we set out to deliver; a vibrant and dynamic building that has been both a catalyst and a magnet for further investment in this part of Southwark.

“The Shard has become a global landmark that, against all odds, is recognised as a blueprint for the creation of a European vertical city.

“We have concluded an offices lettings programme that has secured a unique blend of tenants and reflects our objective to produce a building, which mirrors the incredible diversity of British business life.”

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