Nomura has chosen to stay in the City. When it acquired Lehman Brothers’ European operations last autumn, it had a choice as to whether to move out to Canary Wharf, where Lehman is based.

It is a choice they faced before - whether to move three miles downriver to Canary Wharf at a time when several rival banks were doing so.

It has again plumped for the City, although it will move to a brand new office, Watermark Place, that can accommodate the two group’s combined 4,000 staff and up to 1,000 more as its ambitions to grow are realised.

Part of the decision was predicated on a preference in Tokyo to be in the heart of the City’s traditional centre.

However, the driving force appears to have been the stronger preference of staff not to move to Canary Wharf.

In this case, Nomura and its advisers struck a phenomenal deal - an average of 28 pounds per square foot for the 20 year duration of the lease.

However, cost does not seem to have been the only determinant. Instead, Nomura explicitly took the wishes of its employees into account. And staff said loud and clear that they did not want to move to the Wharf.

This is partly because most of Nomura’s clients are still based in the City, West End or even outside London rather than in Docklands.

But it is also because most bankers still live in West London. (Thanks to the prevailing south-westerly winds, the smart parts of London have historically lain to the West, upwind of the poorer neighbourhoods).

Transport for London may have made great improvements to the Jubilee Line, but it can be a one-hour commute to West London. Moreover, going to see someone in the City or West End can end up being a three hour round trip by public transport, and only slightly quicker - and substantially more expensive - by taxi.

Unfortunately, the City is almost full and it is unlikely that many others will make the same choice. But it is good to see some employers recognising the costs to employees as well as to the bank.