The School has agreed to lease two more floors in the iconic One Canada Square building in the heart of London’s commercial area to add to the two floors it already occupies.

Its expansion comes as enrolments into business and management education in the UK has grown by more than 50% over the past six years.

It has signed a lease with landlords Canary Wharf Group for floors 48 and 49, giving the School additional space to teach hundreds more students and attract first-class academics to help it continue to produce world-leading research.

The project is part of UCL’s drive to see its business school achieve further global recognition. The School draws on cutting-edge research across a wide range of business disciplines to sharpen students' entrepreneurial and business skills.

Professor Davide Ravasi, Director of the UCL School of Management, said: “Our location in Canary Wharf gives us a clear competitive advantage from which our students and faculty will continue to benefit.

“I have no doubt that increasing our presence here will enhance our ability to produce world-leading research, economic and societal impact and innovative education for years to come.”

The additional floor space will allow it to teach around 1,000  more students, bringing the School’s overall total to just under 3,000, while still leaving room to capitalise on further opportunities that may be pursued in the coming years.

It also means undergraduate students will be taught at the School’s Canary Wharf base for the first time.

Facilities offered on the two new floors will include:

• Bloomberg suite: an entire suite dedicated to teaching finance/finance and data science students, giving them access to industry-standard tools and technology and to live market data. 
• A state-of-the-art recording studio giving the School the ability to produce high-quality content for teaching online programmes, podcasts and marketing content.
• Two new student hubs: comfortable social spaces for students with stunning views across London
• Accessibility: stairs will be installed between levels 48, 49 and 50 to make it easier to get from one to the other
• A new executive education suite made up of a dedicated teaching space, meeting rooms and lounge areas with serveries (on Level 48).

The new space will enable the school to offer nine more courses, including BSc’s in International Management and Management for Social Change (for undergraduates) and MSc’s in Finance with Data Science, People Analytics and Human-Centric Management, and Digital Innovation. These new programmes build on core research areas at the School and cross-departmental collaborations, and their focus aligns with UCL’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Shyam Samani, UCL’s Estates Project lead, said “We are proud to have supported the School of Management’s growth and look forward to seeing the positive impact these new spaces will have on students and faculty alike.

“The UCL team, our consultant team and Canary Wharf Group have worked collaboratively and innovatively to ensure the best result for our UCL community and to enable UCL to welcome students to a new wave of education programmes in September 2025.

“We would like to thank our consultant team Gerald Eve (Agents), CMS (Legal), Gardiner and Theobald (Project Manager), Nicholas Hare Architects (Architect), AECOM (Cost Management), Buro Happold (MEP and Structural Engineers) as well as Canary Wharf Contractors.’’  

Dr Michael Spence, UCL President & Provost, said: “This is a real feather in the cap for UCL.

“As well as being strategically important in terms of helping our School of Management achieve its goal of further global recognition, this expansion will help meet surging demand for business education across the UK and to produce more of country’s next generation of business leaders.

“It further highlights UCL’s commitment to providing world-leading teaching and research.”

The School also leases the 50th, top-floor and Level 38 of the building. Floor 50 houses a state-of-the-art hybrid lecture theatre that allows students to join sessions remotely and in-person.

This is complemented with an executive education suite, flexible spaces to host conferences and large events on-site, along with built-in video pods to allow interaction with students, colleagues and partners around the world.

The School offers a distinct approach to business education with undergraduate, postgraduate, executive and PhD programmes focusing on innovation, technology, analytics and entrepreneurship, the four key drivers of the future.

The programmes, taught by world-class academics, incorporate learning activities and industrial experiences that will help develop commercial competencies, organisational management skills and a high degree of creativity.

They aim to prepare students for leadership roles in the next generation of technology-intensive organisations, new ventures, as well as in finance and consulting firms.

Founded in 2015, the School has premises in Canary Wharf and Bloomsbury, London.

Links

• UCL School of Management
• Professor Davide Ravasi
• UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences
• UCL Estates
• UCL Business
• UCL London office
• UCL Innovation and Enterprise

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• The UCL School of Management, Canary Wharf

Media contact

Nick Hodgson

nick.hodgson [at] ucl.ac.uk

+44 (0)7769 240209