Children’s charity Unicef is moving its London headquarters to Stratford.
The charity wil occupy two floors covering 25,000ft in Westfield Avenue, a building in the International Quarter London development, when it moves from its current base in Clerkenwell, near Old Street in Shoreditch.
Mark Devlin, Unicef UK’s CEO, said: “As we looked for our new home, we were attracted by the genuine community nature of Stratford and based our decision on affordability, location and design potential.
“The workplace at Westfield Avenue will enable us to adopt more agile and collaborative working practices. This will enable our teams to operate more effectively and achieve even better outcomes for the world’s children.”
The International Quarter is a £2.4bn mixed-use development spearheaded by London and Continental Railways (LCR) and Lendlease.
Chief executive of LCR, David Joy, said: “Stratford is rapidly becoming an area of London like no other, and the organisations that are now looking to move here as they plan for their future reflects the pace of change taking place and the growing appeal of the area.
“Securing a leading global charity such as Unicef further reinforces the high calibre of organisations that International Quarter London is attracting.”
Unicef have been looking for new headquarters for its 300 staff for more than a decade.
Cancer Research UK, the British Council, the Financial Conduct Authority and Transport for London have also signed leases in the International Quarter.
When the site’s finished in 2025, it’s expected that 25,000 people will be based in the development.
Jonathan Emery from Lendlease said: “A person’s workplace environment has a direct impact on their wellbeing, performance and productivity. It makes sense for employers to seek out the very best places for their people to work.”
He added that with University College London and Loughborough University London’s campuses nearby, Stratford will become a new base for business.
There are also plans for a cultural and education district in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and will include a new branch of the V&A museum and a London College of Fashion campus.
Unicef’s employees are due to move in at the end of the summer.
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