The new London offices - at 21 Bloomsbury - are not far from the agency's current base in Bernard Street and are adjacent to the British Museum.

Once all occupants are in situ, UK Sport will share the building with an eclectic mix of public bodies.

Besides Sport England, these will include the Arts Council; The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service; Ofwat, which regulates the water and sewerage sectors in England and Wales; the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner; and the Horserace Betting Levy Board.

Plans for a merger between UK Sport and Sport England, whose prime focus is more on grass roots and community sport, were dropped last year.

However, a detailed plan to realise synergies and efficiencies between the two bodies was subsequently agreed by senior management.

UK Sport are to join Sport England at its headquarters at 21 Bloomsbury in London, along with several other publicly-funded bodies ©21 Bloomsbury

UK Sport has played a big part in the dramatic improvement of Great Britain's Olympic and Paralympic performance levels in recent times, culminating with a third-placed finish in the medals table in the team's home Olympics at London 2012.

But the body recently courted controversy by removing high performance funding from a number of Olympic and Paralympic sports in the run-up to the next Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.