22 May 2019: This week marks a major milestone for the Financial Times as it returns to the City of London and its historic former home, Bracken House.
The move to Bracken House sees FT staff transition to the twice listed Grade II* building, geographically located midway between the financial centre of the City and the historical centre of the newspaper industry on Fleet Street. It was originally built to house the FT’s expanding organisation at a time of rapid growth, with pink sandstone to match the iconic colour of the FT’s pages.
FT CEO John Ridding said: “When the FT left Bracken House more than thirty years ago we never imagined we would return and no one could have foreseen the disruption about to be unleashed by the digital disruption of news media."
"So, to return home having just burst through one million paying readers, the highest level in our 130-year history, demonstrates the dynamism and success of our transformation. We have proved that quality journalism can be a quality growth business and we look forward to continued global growth from our new state of the art HQ."
The FT topped one million paying readers in April; an all time high and key strategic goal. The milestone, reached one year ahead of schedule, came on the back of a strong business performance, with both operating profits and revenues growing last year.
Bracken House, named after Sir Brendan Bracken, founder of the modern FT, was originally designed by distinguished architect Sir Albert Richardson in 1959, modified by Sir Michael Hopkins in the late 1980s, and refreshed by John Robertson Architects beginning in 2016, Bracken House has been transformed from a semi-industrial newspaper printing works into a bright office space fit for a thriving digital news organisation.
Following an opening reception at Bracken House last week, the FT will host a series of events globally this year to celebrate its key milestones.
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Contact:
Catherine Goacher, catherine.goacher@ft.com, +44 (0)20 7873 4181
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.