Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) chief executive Lloyd Blankfein has waded in to the Brexit debate once again.
The 63-year-old has said the bank remains committed to building its new European headquarters in London, but added that whether or not it can fill it is largely “outside [of] our control”.
In London. GS still investing in our big new Euro headquarters here. Expecting/hoping to fill it up, but so much outside our control.#Brexit pic.twitter.com/XwrIcqwM1t
— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) October 30, 2017
Taking to Twitter, Blankfein – who has been in Goldman’s boss since 2006 – said: “In London. GS still investing in our big new Euro headquarters here. Expecting/hoping to fill it up, but so much outside our control. #Brexit”
He attached an aerial shot of the new 1.1mln square feet office in Holborn, which the firm is expected to move into in 2019.
It is the first tweet Blankfein has sent since the one a fortnight ago, when he was in Frankfurt and said he expected to spend more time in the city after Brexit.
Just left Frankfurt. Great meetings, great weather, really enjoyed it. Good, because I'll be spending a lot more time there. #Brexit
— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) October 19, 2017
Goldman currently employs 6,000 staff in London but hasn’t revealed how many will be housed in the new building. It has the option to either take all of the space or sublet it if it can’t fill it on its own.
As with other major institutions, many in the City are keeping an eye on Goldman’s post-Brexit occupancy plans in London as a gauge for the impact of on the financial centre.
The bank has already agreed to take the top eight floors of a 37-storey block under construction in Frankfurt which could house up to 800 more staff in addition to the 200 already in the German city.