UK government leases Canary Wharf offices from Barclays

The UK government has agreed a deal to sublet a Barclays office in London's Canary Wharf for about 5,700 civil servants.

The civil servants, many of them from HMRC, will be relocated from offices in Whitehall, the Cabinet Office said.

Barclays said the deal would save £35m a year as part of a cost-cutting plan.

The bank has about 3,300 staff in the office - mainly back office teams for the investment bank and other support staff.

The Barclays staff will move to Barclays' two other Canary Wharf sites - its main headquarters at 1 Churchill Place and its building on 5 North Colonnade, where its investment bank is based.

The UK Cabinet Office lease on the 10 South Colonnade building will run for 15 years. The building is owned by Canary Wharf Group.

"This new hub will provide a better working environment for many London-based civil servants at considerably less cost to the taxpayer," said minister for the Cabinet Office Ben Gummer.