13
March
2017
|
16:08
Europe/London

Introducing the Original Co-Working Space

The City of London Corporation will launch a campaign at MIPIM tomorrow to improve, strengthen and update perceptions of the City. The campaign will show that the Square Mile is one of the world’s most exciting places to work and base a business.

The campaign will be supported by a prospectus presenting the Square Mile, themed: The City of London – the Original Co-Working Space. This plays on the City’s history of ‘coffee houses’ dating back to the 1600s, which gave rise to today’s Lloyd’s Market, alongside the growing sectoral diversity in the district and the current trend of shared workspaces.

The prospectus will be available at MIPIM from 9am on Tuesday 14th March on the City of London Stand, within the London Stand (C 15). Alongside the prospectus delegates are invited to pick up the accompanying Tech X The City report which examines the fast-expanding City tech sector and how to further accelerate it.

The prospectus showcases the true diversity of the City and its unique mix of the ultra contemporary and authentic history. For example, the Square Mile has the highest concentration of Platinum-rated WiredScore buildings and some 1.25 million sq m of new grade A office space under construction. Combined with 600 listed buildings and over 200 gardens, churchyards, parks and piazzas, the City is a truly unique business district.

Well-known personalities and brands based in the City are featured in the prospectus, including:

  • Sharon Ament, Director, Museum of London
  • Stella Ioannou, Co-Director, Sculpture in the City
  • Eugen Miropolski, Managing Director Europe & Israel, WeWork
  • Graham Stirk, Senior Partner, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
  • Shirine Khoury-Haq, Chief Operating Officer, Lloyd’s of London
  • Jason Grist, CEO, Booking.com
  • Anne Richards, CEO, M&G Investments

The campaign’s key messages include:

  • The City has a healthy ‘ecosystem’ of businesses, most of which are not the large corporates you might expect: 98.5 per cent of businesses in the City are small to medium sized businesses (SMEs).
  • The City remains a large-scale ‘co-working’ environment, with 60%–70% of its SMEs trading with others in the Square Mile.
  • The City of London Corporation is working constantly to further enhance the built environment with measures including:
  • Improving the public realm – e.g. traffic restrictions at Bank Junction that will improve safety and enhance the space for pedestrians and cyclists
  • Encouraging contemporary workspaces – e.g. supporting the Innovation Warehouse, accommodating co-working hubs such as WeWork and Bathtub2Boardroom.
  • Granting planning permission for high-quality, innovative buildings – e.g. in 2016 the City Corporation granted planning for 309,000 sq m of grade A office space at 22 Bishopsgate, 1 Undershaft, 2-3 Finsbury Avenue and 60 London Wall*.
  • The City is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of sectors and its new occupiers defy the stereotypical City image: e.g. Lego, Deliveroo, Bloomberg, Booking.com, Skyscanner and Salesforce, as well as tech start-ups.
  • The City is one of the best connected global business destinations: The world’s largest centre for financial transactions, Europe’s largest insurance hub, extraordinary transport connectivity (five international airports less than an hour away), world-leading free and unlimited wifi network being installed this year.
  • Culture is a huge and vital part of the City’s offer: The City of London Corporation invests £80m every year in heritage and cultural activities of all kinds. It is the fourth largest funder of the arts in the UK and supports the Barbican, the Museum of London and the Guildhall School of Music, among other cultural institutions.
  • The City of London Corporation will enhance its cultural offer with its Cultural Hub plan to link the three major cultural assets via public realm development.

Notes

*These schemes are in addition to the 1.25 million sq m of grade A office space under construction mentioned above.