Technology and engineering company Smiths Group has cut its ties with north-west London after almost 100 years.

The maker of airport security scanners and
hi-tech medical tubes today joins search engine Google and computer giant Microsoft in Victoria as part of a major overhaul of the business.

Its head office is shifting from close to Finchley Road after chief executive Philip Bowman almost halved staff numbers at the HQ.

Bowman launched a review of the business when he took the helm in December 2007 in a bid to cut costs by £47 million within three years. He said: “Our move to new offices completes the immediate physical reshaping of the group.”

The restructuring saw the group split into five divisions based closer to their main markets.
Two of the group's arms, Smiths Medical and mechanical seals maker John Crane, moved their management to the US at the end of last year, while Smiths Detection relocated
to Watford.

Smiths employs about 23,000 staff worldwide, and is one of the last of the old UK engineering groups.