Stripe opens City of London office to step up UK expansion

(Stripe)

Stripe Inc. is opening a new office in the City of London as it looks expand its UK operations and roll out lending to small businesses.

The new location will house 250 staffers from engineering, sales, partnerships, financial compliance, and operations, John Collison, Stripe’s president and co-founder, said in an interview.

“When you zoom out, it’s just the largest city for us in terms of businesses starting with us,” Collison said. “We’re still expanding quite a bit. We may need a new office later.” The firm has about 30 open roles in the capital, he added.

San Francisco-based Stripe opened its first UK office in the Shoreditch neighborhood, just north of the City of London, in 2014. The UK is the fintech company’s second largest market and more Stripe users are based in London than any other city in the world.

It’s the latest win for the City, where high real estate costs have restricted office takeup in the past. Firms including HSBC Holdings Plc and law firm Clifford Chance have said in recent years they’re leaving Canary Wharf in favor of the City.

Stripe’s new office is located at 201 Bishopsgate, an office block linked by a deck to the Broadgate Tower and completed by British Land Co. in 2008.

Meanwhile, Stripe is also adding new payment tools in the UK including a small business financing service called Stripe Capital. It will also allow UK businesses to accept so-called

pay by bank options, which are cheaper because they bypass traditional card networks.

With a $65 billion valuation, Stripe is one of the world’s most valuable fintechs. The company helps merchants process payments and counts companies like PayPal Holdings Inc. and Adyen NV as its competitors.