Defence offers new front for Britain's office landlords. Knight Frank says firms want bases near research universities to recruit specialised talent Published Wed, Sep 30, 2026 · 03:00 PM * The managed Canary Wharf estate with its own security staff would likely be appealing to prospective defence occupiers, according to developer LS Estates CEO Mark Swetman. PHOTO: REUTERS [LONDON] Property investors in Britain are targeting defence clients to capitalise on growing spending on rearmament, including to occupy former bank offices in London's Canary Wharf financial district, real estate companies have told Reuters. A boom in defence technology - from drone programming to AI-enhanced cybersecurity - is stimulating demand for city centre offices and laboratories, on top of interest in traditional out-of-town industrial sites, the companies noted. "Defence used to be all about munitions, but that's totally changed. Now it's about these new technologies," said Jennifer Townsend, a partner at Knight Frank, adding that defence firms increasingly wanted to be near British research universities to attract talent. European countries are ramping up defence spending to meet tougher Nato targets, creating demand for 37 million square metres over seven years - equivalent to roughly 5,200 football pitches - Savills estimates. In Britain, up to three million square metres of industrial and logistics demand will be needed, plus nearly 250,000 square metres of additional office and R&D space, Savills forecasts. The latter is only about 2-1/2 times the space in HSBC's soon-to-be vacated Canary Wharf skyscraper, but a boost for a sector recovering as companies limit home working. Asean intelligence. Get insights into businesses across South-east Asia The "Golden Triangle" research cluster between London, Cambridge and Oxford is one of the areas benefiting, according to property agencies. In Canary Wharf - once dominated by banks - developer LS Estates told Reuters that it was sounding out defence and AI companies to occupy a refurbished nine-floor office once home to Credit Suisse support staff in response to changing demand. One of Britain's largest industrial landlords, Tritax Big Box, separately told Reuters that it has identified defence as a potential growth sector and begun sounding out potential occupiers. "There is sadly a significant boom in defence. The consequence is there's an awful lot of money being spent in R&D," LS Estates CEO Mark Swetman said, adding that the managed Canary Wharf estate with its own security staff would likely be appealing to prospective defence occupiers. The £100 million-plus (US$130 million-plus) refit of 17 Columbus Courtyard - backed by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and Oaktree - was originally targeted at life sciences firms with up to 60 per cent of the space earmarked for laboratories, but Swetman added that interest from that sector had been lower than expected in the short term. The high-spec space featuring reinforced floors, access to backup power and advanced ventilation is now seen as a potential fit for defence and AI firms, Swetman explained. Surging demand from defence occupiers means offices need tighter security and resilience, while some firms were targeting space in Westminster to be close to political decision makers, said Julian Woolgar, a partner at Knight Frank. Earlier this month, defence components maker Isembard opened what it said was London's largest factory since World War II in the city's Southwark district. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) meanwhile recently opened the largest indoor drone testing facility in Europe in a Panattoni-developed warehouse in Swindon. One of the world's largest privately owned developers of industrial real estate, Panattoni said that it was in active discussions with defence companies for space nearby as it redevelops a former Honda car plant. "Suppliers to the MOD like to cluster, like the Formula 1 cluster in Oxfordshire," pointed out James Watson, Panattoni's head of development for Southern England and London. REUTERS Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services

Isembard appoints Pip McKenzie as Chief Commercial Officer to scale its factory franchise network. 28 September 2026 10:45 * Isembard, the manufacturing company, has appointed a senior executive with global franchise experience to scale its commercial expansion across the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and new markets. * Pip has executive experience from McDonald's, KFC, Yum! Brands and Gong Cha. * Isembard has grown from four factories to 16 already in 2026 * Isembard combines precision manufacturing, Mason OS, its agentic operating system, and franchisee factory ownership to rapidly expand component manufacturing capacity for aerospace, defence, robotics, and energy. Credit: Isembard Pip McKenzie, Chief Commercial Officer at Isembard, Isembard, the manufacturing company, has appointed Pip McKenzie as Chief Commercial Officer. She will lead the next phase of growth for its manufacturing franchise network across all markets. McKenzie brings deep experience from some of the world's most recognised franchised brands, including McDonald's, KFC, Yum! Brands and Gong Cha. Previously at Gong Cha, McKenzie delivered record transactional growth with master franchise agreements in 21 new countries and 3 US states. As Chief Commercial Officer, she will lead the development of Isembard's franchise platform internationally, establishing the partnerships, systems and the commercial framework needed to scale the network while maintaining world-class operational standards. Isembard is the only manufacturer to operate a factory franchise model. Owners run their own factory, while Isembard provides customer contracts, training, and MasonOS, its agentic operating system, which handles setup, quoting, scheduling, supply chain, production, quality control, and delivery. Franchising opens ownership to individuals who have the drive to run their own business but not the systems to do it alone. It has also drawn owners from well beyond traditional routes, including veterans, tech workers and successful multi-brand franchisees. The franchising model has played a key role in Isembard's growth: 16 factories are now trading, up from four at the start of 2026, including its new global headquarters and factory in Southwark, central London - the largest factory to open in the capital since the Second World War. Isembard is targeting 100 owned and franchisee factories across the UK alone by the end of 2028, a programme expected to create 2,200 high-skilled jobs. Pip McKenzie, Chief Commercial Officer at Isembard, said: "Re-industrialising the West is one of the defining opportunities of our generation. It requires a scalable model that enables exceptional operators to build world-class manufacturing businesses. By combining precision manufacturing expertise, proprietary Mason OS software and a proven franchise system, Isembard has created exactly that. I am joining to accelerate Isembard's expansion across the UK, Europe and North America and help redefine how advanced manufacturing scales globally." Alexander Fitzgerald, Founder and CEO of Isembard, said: "We are building a generational business. We therefore need generational talent. Pip's experience working for some of the world's most successful franchisors provides us with the expertise to support the next phase of growth. We'll soon Pip all other franchise systems to the post!"

Isembard launches its Largest Factory, feeding into Alloyed's metal AM pipeline. British software-first manufacturing startup Isembard opened its new global headquarters and factory in Southwark, central London, on September 14, 2026, calling it the largest factory to open in the capital since the Second World War. The launch caps a year in which the company grew from 4 factories to 16 across the UK, Europe, and the US, alongside a tenfold year-over-year revenue increase, and comes as Isembard prepares to raise additional funding to support further global expansion. The Southwark site will serve as both Isembard's head office and a working precision factory, producing components for aerospace, defence, and robotics customers including Anduril, Babcock, and Tekever. Targeting a market small businesses are ageing out of Isembard's expansion is built around a specific structural problem in component manufacturing, a market the company values at $1.8 trillion a year but says is dominated by small businesses that account for 95% of production and are rapidly disappearing. The average owner in that segment is over 65, and 40% plan to retire within five years, a wave of retirements the company argues is colliding with rising demand from aerospace, defence, energy, and robotics firms driven by re-shoring and higher spending on critical industries. Isembard's response combines owned factories with a franchise model, layered with a proprietary operating system called MasonOS that automates quoting, scheduling, production, and quality control across the network. The approach is meant to let experienced operators run high-performance manufacturing businesses from day one, using Isembard's technology, brand, engineering standards, and existing customer demand rather than building all of that from scratch. Milling, turn-mills, and wire EDM, with software built on top The Southwark factory houses 3-axis and 5-axis milling machines, turn-mills, and wire electrical discharge machines, alongside a climate-controlled metrology lab for precision inspection. Isembard designed the office to overlook the factory floor through floor-to-ceiling windows, giving its software and robotics engineers a direct view of production as they develop MasonOS and the company's forthcoming robotics technology. Headcount at the Southwark HQ is expected to grow from 35 today to 200 by the end of 2027, spanning production, software, manufacturing, and robotics automation engineering. The location itself carries some intentional symbolism: Southwark was historically one of London's manufacturing centres, home to foundries, engineering works, printworks, and tanneries, and is where Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the company's namesake, worked early in his career driving the Thames Tunnel out from Rotherhithe. Isembard and Alloyed: a supplier inside an AM company's supply chain Isembard doesn't 3D print itself, its confirmed equipment across factories is entirely subtractive, built around CNC milling, turning, and wire EDM. But it isn't disconnected from the additive manufacturing industry either. Among the customer stories featured on Isembard's own capacity page is Alloyed, the Oxford-founded metal additive manufacturing company, formerly OxMet Technologies, that designs alloys computationally and produces qualified metal components through its own AM production stack. Alloyed's Chief Engineer, Charlie Pearson, is quoted praising Isembard directly: "Isembard has proven to be an exceptionally capable manufacturing partner. Their team rapidly understood our technical requirements, iterated on solutions with pace, and delivered complex precision products to a standard we could trust." That places Isembard as a precision-machining supplier inside at least one AM company's broader manufacturing chain, even though the parts Isembard itself cuts are machined rather than printed. Part of a wider UK reindustrialisation push Isembard is targeting 100 owned and franchisee factories across the UK alone by the end of 2028, a plan the company says would create 2,200 high-skilled jobs. The announcement lands alongside the UK government's Defence Investment Plan, which commits close to £300 billion and names sovereign capability, autonomous systems, and resilient supply chains among its priorities. That push has increasingly leaned on additive manufacturing specifically as one of its core tools, not just conventional machining. The Ministry of Defence's own Defence Advanced Manufacturing Strategy identified 3D printing as crucial to its roadmap, citing a DIU-commissioned finding that printing 15% of the defence inventory could save £110 million over 15 years. That policy has already translated into hardware on the ground: Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land uses 3D printers extensively across Challenger 3 and Boxer production at its Telford site, backed by over £56 million in investment, while Rolls-Royce opened an MOD-backed Additive Manufacturing Development Cell in Bristol built around what defence officials have called a "factory to foxhole" logic. Isembard founder and CEO Alexander Fitzgerald framed the Southwark opening in the same terms: "Manufacturing is the origin of our security, prosperity and sense of purpose as nations. No one has opened a factory like this in London since the Second World War, and that tells you how far our industrial base has been allowed to shrink." Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds welcomed the move as consistent with government policy: "This is exactly what reindustrialising Britain is all about. Bringing manufacturing back into the UK, backing our critical industries and creating highly skilled jobs across the country." Isembard's own factory network is built on conventional precision machining rather than 3D printing, but it's opening into an industrial base where additive manufacturing has become one of the load-bearing technologies of the reindustrialization effort and where at least one of its own customers is building that capability directly. 3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here. Explore the full Future of 3D Printing and Executive Survey series from 3D Printing Industry, featuring perspectives from CEOs, engineers, and industry leaders on the industrialization of additive manufacturing, 3D printing industry trends 2026, qualification, supply chains, and additive manufacturing industry analysis. Featured image shows Isembard Opens London's Largest Factory Since World War II. Image via Isembard.