Handelsbanken expands its Edinburgh presence with new west end office

Handelsbanken, the local relationship bank, has strengthened its position in Edinburgh as it moves to a new branch premises in the city’s west end. The move supports the bank’s continued growth in the city, and follows recent appointments which bolster the team’s presence.

The new state-of-the-art office is located at 40 Torphichen Street, with demand having seen the bank outgrow its previous west end home of 10 years at Haymarket Terrace. Staffing numbers at Handelsbanken Edinburgh West End have more than doubled in the past decade to currently sit at 14. With the new facility comprising 3684 sq. ft of space it is 40% larger than the previous office.

Handelsbanken, which was founded in Sweden in 1871, opened its first branch in Scotland’s capital in 2009. It has been a fully-licenced UK bank since 2018, and has firm foundations to support continued growth in Edinburgh and beyond. 

Iain Henderson, Edinburgh West End Branch Manager said: “Not only has our team of expert colleagues grown to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of our customers. We also wanted a bright, modern, environmentally-friendly space to reflect our ambitious sustainability targets.

We wanted to take the time to find the right location, and we couldn’t be happier to be moving into 40 Torphichen St. It not only places us in the heart of the West End, it also means we have the capacity to grow further as our offering develops.” 

Housing the corporate, private banking and wealth management colleagues, the expanded Edinburgh West End base is one of two branches in the city and will act as a hub branch for the wider Scotland and Cumbria district, hosting training, leadership and development courses. 

Henderson said: “We are now able to offer a comfortable space for customers and colleagues alike, together with more meeting and social space enabling us to host more events, such as facilitating networking and presenting business and economic insights.

Designed with Handelsbanken’s ‘Branch of the Future’ concept in mind, we hope this will provide a comfortable home for years to come.” 

The design work for the new premises was completed by Simon Laird Associates, whilst Edinburgh firm Yule and Yule Interior Solutions completed the high-spec fit out. The move means the West End branch is now a similar scale to the bank’s East End premises in Waverley Gate, meaning Handelsbanken has a significant presence in the capital. 

Henderson commented: “Edinburgh is a key part of the bank’s offering in Scotland given the city’s importance to the banking and financial services sectors. 

This is an exciting time for Handelsbanken in Edinburgh, and we are looking forward to settling in to our new premises and continuing to deliver the highly-personalised, tailored banking services that our customers know us for.” 

A formal opening event will take place next month.