'Glistening Bank' seeking cheaper HQ

THE BANK which sparked an outcry when it fitted its lavish London headquarters with a £1.6m marble entrance hall is considering seeking cheaper premises, and faces a huge bill if it moves.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was dubbed the Glistening Bank for its entrance hall, custom built auditorium and £1,000 leather chairs. But 10 years after the furore, the bank has hired a firm of surveyors to look for new headquarters. Rents have risen by 30% and accommodating its 862 staff will cost the bank £15.6m each year for the next five years.

Owners of its 12 floors of offices at 1 Exchange Square in the City have warned the bank it must return them to their original condition. That means it will have to rip out fixtures and fittings at an estimated cost as high as £30m. It has yet to make a final decision on moving out.

The bank was set up to invest in local businesses in post-Communist Eastern Europe by 60 countries including Britain. But the opulent style of its first boss, Jacques Attali, overshadowed its first years after it spent £200m setting itself up - double what it loaned to the crisis-hit former Eastern bloc nations.

Its HQ was dubbed the Attali Palais for lavish fixtures and fittings which included an entrance hall where the original marble was ripped out to make way for Carrara marble, the Italian stone which Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David.

Its boardroom was furnished with £1,000 white leather chairs. A dining room featured sycamore-panelled walls, linen-covered chairs and paintings of the composer. A £1m auditorium for 300 was installed, but the first annual meeting of the bank's 'shareholders' involved hiring the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre because the offices could not accommodate the 3,000 people invited.

The opulence led to Attali's downfall and a clampdown on the bank's lavish spending. Despite the economy drive, the bank's 300,000 square feet HQ currently accommodates 862 staff, where most City offices would fit in 3,000 people.