Fancy seeing you here! Kaspersky and Trend move into same HQ

In an odd development, the bitter security foes have selected the same building to house their new UK head offices

UK staff at Trend Micro and Kaspersky are to share the same visitor book, eateries and public amenities as the warring duo gear up to move in under the same roof.

In a bizarre development some have concluded could only have been inadvertent, the bitter rivals have both taken space in a plush skyscraper in Paddington after opting to relocate their UK headquarters to central London.

Trend upped sticks from Marlow to 2 Kingdom Street, a sleek, 11-floor building opposite Paddington Station, two months ago.

Meanwhile, Kaspersky announced in September that it was set to relocate its head office from Abbingdon to a new pad "close to Paddington station" that could house 100 staff in mid-October, although gave no exact address.

Kaspersky has now confirmed it is the very same building, although admitted its move has been delayed due to disruptions caused by a change in the landlord halfway through the negotiation process. The lease has been signed "very recently" and staff will be ported across gradually over two years, with sales and marketing employees the first to move.

Simon Hember, director of security recruitment outfit Acumin, agreed that it was "strange" for two major competitors to share the same building.

"There has always been a degree of cross-fertilisation between Trend and Kaspersky staff because Marlow and Abbingdon are not that far from each other," Hember said.

"But now they are in the same building, I think it could be rife."

Outside of Symantec and McAfee, there are fewer bigger rivalries in the security world. Moscow-based Kaspersky, which has vowed to become a top-three security vendor, notched up revenue of $628m (£388m) last year, compared with Tokyo-based Trend Micro's 2012 haul of $1.174bn.

According to Canalys, Trend led a global SMB content security market worth $2.3bn in 2012, on 18.2 per cent market share, with Kaspersky in fourth place with a 4.7 per cent share of the spoils.

Kaspersky, which is led by eponymous founder Eugene Kaspersky (pictured), maintained that it is not daunted by the prospect of its staff rubbing shoulders with those in the employ of its Japanese rival.

"We were aware that Trend Micro were looking for new office space in the area when we began our search, and understand the company took a lease on a space in the same building in June," said David Preston, Kaspersky's head of marketing in Europe.

"We do not see their presence as an issue for our business at all."

Simon Young, vice president of Trend Micro UK, also took the development in his stride.

"Paddington is fast becoming an innovation hub and it's no wonder other IT vendors are moving in. Trend Micro has always led the way in innovation and in being first to market," he said.

"The move to Paddington is just another one of our firsts'."