RBS is to leave its London headquarters by the end of next year in a cost-cutting move.
Many staff are expected to make the move from their headquarters at 280 Bishopsgate in the City of London, while the bank thinks about selling the building.
They would transfer to another RBS building a few doors down at 250 Bishopsgate, the bank said. Remaining staff will move to other offices.
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The taxpayer-owned bank said the move would not involve immediate job losses, but it is known to be part of ongoing deep cost-cutting designed to improve profitability and pave the way for the Government to start shedding its 71 per cent stake in the bank.
From 280 Bishopsgate (above) to 250 (below).
“As we become a simpler, smaller UK-focused bank and as we encourage more flexible ways of working, we no longer require the same amount of office space as we once did,” said a company spokesman who added that the move "will further reduce our property costs in London".
The spokesman added: "We will be revamping our nearby office at 250 Bishopsgate later in the year to accommodate more staff and to create a better, more flexible working environment.”
It comes as RBS was reported last year to be selling its Premier Place London office to an arm of Quebec’s government pension manager, Ivanhoe Cambridge. The offer price was said to be slightly less than the £145m the bank was seeking.
Edinburgh-based RBS said towards the end of last year it will close around a quarter of its branches and cut 680 jobs as it cuts costs and encourages customers to use digital services - a move which proved unpopular with many politicians, especially those who represent more rural constituencies.
It was from the London headquarters that disgraced former chief executive Fred Goodwin ran the bank before it needed a £45 billion taxpayer bailout at the end of 2008.
Three years later an official repot into collapse of RBS concludes “multiple poor decisions” were at the heart of its problems but no action is taken against Mr Goodwin, who is stripped of his knighthood.
In February, last year, RBS admitted it will not make an annual profit until 2018 – signalling 10 years of annual losses since its bailout.