PRH signs lease for new London office

Penguin Random House UK has signed an "Agreement for Lease" for a new London office, One Embassy Gardens. 

At One Embassy Gardens, Penguin Random House plans to occupy 83,400 square feet across floors one to five, and it will have a dedicated reception and event space on the ground floor.

Situated between Vauxhall and Battersea as part of the Nine Elms riverside development, it is just a short walk from its existing office at 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road in Pimlico that the publisher will continue to occupy.

The intention for PRH is to move all its London employees into one of the two sites at the end of 2019, vacating its Ealing and 80 Strand offices.

Both One Embassy Gardens and 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road will be home to a mix of Penguin Random House departments and c.e.o. Tom Weldon, among others, will work at both offices.

In June of last year, when PRH first announced it was vacating both its Transworld office in Ealing and its office in the Strand, staff were told it would be their chance to create their own "workplace of the future". Reaction was mixed although Larry Finlay, m.d. of Ealing-based Transworld, then said, "Transworld is the company that it is because of who we are, because of who we publish and how we publish, rather than because of where we are."

Weldon has said the move represents an opportunity for different departments within PRH to work "even more closely" and will help it to attract and retain staff.

"This move provides an opportunity for all of our teams to work together even more closely as one company. This is about much more than just bricks and mortar. We want to use our new workspace to build a creative culture for the future that will help us to attract and retain the very best talent," said Weldon.

"Many of our 1,200 London colleagues have already shared some great ideas in surveys and workshops. I am looking forward to working with them over the coming months and years to build an exciting creative space where we can all do the best work of our lives."

John Mulryan, UK managing director, Ballymore commented: "We are very pleased to welcome Penguin Random House to Embassy Gardens. With the forthcoming opening of the new US Embassy and the recent announcement of Apple moving its headquarters to the area, this gives further momentum to this remarkable place of regeneration.

"This building sits prominently at the heart of Embassy Gardens overlooking the River Thames, Linear Park and US Embassy. We believe Penguin Random House is the ideal tenant given its strong brand and reputation. Delivery of this workspace in 2019 will help create a complementary mix of uses along with new homes and retail spaces to create a new part of central London."