Microblogging platform Twitter has cancelled its plans to open a London office in the Euston area after social networking rival Facebook announced that its offices would be located in the same building.
The building in question is Regent’s Place, where Twitter had planned to rent an 18,000 square foot office to house its London staff. The company signed a lease agreement for the office space earlier this year but recently cancelled the deal.
While technology industry pundits have rushed to claim that Twitter’s decision stemmed from Facebook’s new location, the company is believed to have made changes to its lease agreement after its successful share listing gave it different priorities for the year.
Twitter’s IPO was a success for the company, with the share price rising by more than 50 per cent in the first day of trading. The company already has an office in London at 10 Brock Street, which is reportedly too small to house the company’s extra staff.
Insiders claim that Twitter is searching for a space that’s at least 50 per cent larger than the Regent’s Place office, noting that additional hires have increase the Silicon Valley firm’s space requirements. The company is expanding rapidly following its listing on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this week.
Facebook’s new office in the Regent’s Place complex will allow it to double the total amount of staff it employs in London. The company will be bringing 250 employees to the new office, doubling its existing London employee count to 500.
Other technology firms to have invested heavily in London office space include the search engine giant Google, which is currently building a low-rise office building in King’s Cross. The luxurious Google office building will include a climbing wall and rooftop garden, as well as a ‘ride-in’ employee bicycle parking centre.
