Tenants' relief as Salesforce's Heron Tower takeover blocked

Microsoft partner Cisilion welcomes ruling that skyscraper cannot be renamed Salesforce Tower

Tech firms inhabiting Heron Tower – including Microsoft reseller Cisilion – have breathed a sigh of relief after Salesforce's plans to rebrand it under its own name were blocked by officials.

The software giant reached a deal in May to rename the City skyscraper "Salesforce Tower" after agreeing to lease 50,000 sq ft over six floors of the 230m-tall tower.

But the City of London ruled on Tuesday that the name change could not go ahead because it would not be the majority tenant in the property.

"Salesforce.com is becoming a large new occupier, but will not be sufficiently dominant to justify an authorised building name," the report stated.

The ruling will come as a relief to tech residents worried the rebrand would have forced them to print a competitor's name on their business cards and prompted awkward questions from visiting clients.

Tech supplier Cisilion, which invested £250,000 in an innovation centre in Heron Tower in 2012 and partners with Salesforce rival Microsoft, hailed this week's ruling.

"We would welcome that decision and support it," a representative for Cisilion said. "We feel insufficient consideration was given to tenants in the past."

Mobile payments company Powa Technologies – which was reportedly taking legal action against the move – also welcomed the development.

"The committee had never before been asked to rename a building for a commercial tenant that was not the sole occupier, and we are pleased that they did not set an unpopular new precedent here," said Powa chief executive Dan Wagner.

"This milestone decision will protect the integrity of the City's landmark buildings. Other businesses will also now be safe from the difficult situation of having the prestige of their offices devalued by being named after another company."

The 46-storey building, London's third highest, will now be known by the more generic name of 110 Bishopsgate. Officials did acknowledge that the Saleforce Tower moniker is being used informally by some tenants, but said this would not cause confusion.

Salesforce, which is making the building its new European headquarters, put a brave face on the decision.

"We are pleased that the City of London Planning Department has recommended that the name Heron Tower be dropped from the official address of 110 Bishopsgate and that the City's Planning and Transportation Committee has approved this change," the firm said.

"We are also pleased that the informal use of Salesforce Tower as the name of the building has now been accepted by the City."