Fortress Wapping Breached

After 27 years in residence, News Corp is moving its offices from Wapping to London’s South Bank reports Clickmate.

The company has created a new centre for its operations which will include the major parts of its Group, including News UK (until recently News International), Dow Jones and Harper Collins, at The Place Building, which has been termed by locals as the Baby Shard.

Wapping, which sits adjacent to the River Thames, was the scene of the great industrial battle between proprietor Rupert Murdoch and the print unions in the late 1980s. Wapping marked a new era of newspaper production and ownership, as the UK’s main titles moved en masse from Fleet Street to The Docklands.

The Wapping site was acquired by property and construction group Berkley Group for £150 million in May last year.

News Corp Chief Executive Officer Richard Thomson, who confirmed the sale, told the media: “Our new London location in the vibrant borough of Southwark will allow us to realise one core objective as the new News – to work more closely and creatively, and leverage our collective resources.”

The move, which is set to be completed in 2015, brings together various offices which are currently based throughout London, including Tower Hamlets, Hammersmith, the City and Holborn.