Ashurst is set to sublet close to half of the space in its new London headquarters to financial technology services company NEX Group.

The firm signed a 20-year lease in 2015 to take on 283,000 sq ft in the new London Fruit & Wool Exchange development at 1-10 Brushfield Street, which is due to complete in 2018.

It has now agreed terms to sublet 115,000 sq ft of this space to NEX, equating to 40% of the building.

Ashurst London managing partner Simon Beddow said: "It's a great example of the buoyancy of the London real estate market. When we took the building two years ago we intended to sublet. In light of Brexit, there was a chance that we would need more than one tenant but it's worked out really well."

Ashurst is set to move into its new base in Spitalfields in 2019, marking the end of a 30-year stay in Appold Street, where it currently occupies just over 200,000 sq ft across two buildings at Broadwalk House and Broadgate Quarter.

Ahead of the move, the firm has been consulting with partners and staff about design plans. Lawyers are set to be based in offices, with executive assistants working from fixed workstations and business support staff hot-desking.

Ashurst said it will consider setting out dedicated open-plan space for fee earners.

The firm has agreed heads of terms with NEX, which was previously known as ICAP before rebranding in December last year, but the deal has not yet signed. The company offers a range of technology-based products and services to manage risk and trades.

Confirmation of the sublet comes after a report by commercial property company CBRE revealed that the amount of new London leases taken up by the largest law firms in the capital fell by more than 50% last year, as factors such as flexible working, new technology and the Brexit vote push law firms to rethink their real estate footprint.