“London is competing against every European city for business and international cities too. We are part of the London offering and I believe you get the best quality real estate in Canary Wharf.”

A few years ago, the obituary of Canary Wharf was being written by some. In the wake of covid and office working patterns changing, what was the point of a place like Canary Wharf? The narrative was fuelled by several long-term tenants – notably HSBC – deciding to leave the Wharf, as lots call it, for smaller space elsewhere.

But Tom Venner, Canary Wharf’s chief development officer, is having none of it. “It was never dying,” he says. He sounds genuinely baffled that people ever thought it was. “It’s transformed fundamentally in the past five or six years.”

It was purpose built for offices with towers like One Canada Square and the Fosters-designed HSBC block becoming London landmarks.