The New York Times is making a big move into London. It has agreed to rent new headquarters in Bloomsbury and is expecting to fill it with up to 100 staff in the new year.

I understand that it will become the newspaper’s European digital hub and centre for the paper’s international issues. Some staff will be relocated from its Paris office and others will arrive from the US.

There is no question of the Paris office itself - home for so long to the iconic International Herald Tribune - being closed. It is simply believed that London is a more appropriate place from which to cover the European continent.

According to a Property Week article, the paper’s owners have signed a deal for the entire 9,000 sq ft building at close to the asking rental fee of £50 a sq ft.

It is described by the rental agency as a “contemporary refurbished office space with a private courtyard, providing an oasis of calm amid the rush of central London.”

It may be a bit far-fetched to suggest that the NY Times is putting its tanks on the Guardian’s lawn. But it is fascinating to see the world’s two leading liberal newspapers moving into each other’s home territory.

The Guardian also has expansion plans for its own office in New York, which was opened in 2011.