Docklands area

The City of London as the major financial district within London is indeed a suitable location for the setup of a virtual office in the middle of this city. The association with The Square Mile totally projects a prestigious image to any virtual office being setup within the many skyscrapers that have been constructed here. However, due the growth rate being experienced within the city center, some other locations have also been identified as alternate business districts.

One of these areas would be the area of Docklands, located in east of London within the area of Greater London. The origin of its name stems from the fact that it was historically known as the Port of London, one of the largest ports in the world at one time. This location had been identified for residential and commercial development with the name London Docklands officially used by the government in 1971. In line with these plans, the London Docklands Development Corporation was put into place in 1981 with the purpose of redevelopment here. One of the first initiatives put in place was to designate the area as an enterprise zone, where capital allowances and tax exemptions were provided to companies that invested here. Over the next two decades of the 80s and the 90s, Docklands has massively developed into an area with a good mixture of residential and commercial infrastructure. Apart from that, poor transportation infrastructure here was improved through the construction of the Docklands Light Railway, the Tube and the Limehouse Link Tunnel.

The Canary Wharf

One of the most ambitious and significant projects within Docklands is the Canary Wharf project, a financial district in the making together with the construction of the tallest skyscraper in Britain. Located in the Isle of Dogs in Docklands, the three highest buildings here are the 1 Canada Square, HSBC Tower and the Citigroup Centre. The construction of these centers had been temporarily halted during the property slump of the early 1990s. Apart from there, transportation infrastructure had also been halted, rendering this building to become a white elephant, a great building with no tenants, after completion.

In 1995, the Canary Wharf was bought over by an International Consortium with a staff size of 13,000. Following that, construction of the Jubilee Line resumed, which revived commercial activities in the area. Canary Wharf was seen to be an attractive alternative to other commercial areas, which is why many financial institutions have set up their offices here. This would include HSBC, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and the Lehman Brothers. Furthermore, many major newspapers have also shifted their operations here, including the Daily Mirror and Reuters. A poll taken in early 2006 found that the number of people working here totaled 78,000, a major increase from a mere 13,000 in 1995. Furthermore, the popularity of this area has been enhanced with the completion of the Jubilee Place shopping area in 2004, which is successful in attracting a total of 500,000 shoppers each week. With this, Canary Wharf has managed to emerge as a popular and probable location for a virtual office or an office space, for businesses in the financial and media sectors.

The headquarters of Barclays Bank is also located within Canary Wharf at One Churchill Place. This 156 m tall building of 32 floors is the seventh tallest building in the United Kingdom and the fourth tallest building in the area of Docklands. The Barclays Bank occupies most of the building, but other tenants here such as Cantor Fitzgerald occupy the mid level floors of 14 to 23. As this building had been completed after the 9/11 attacks, various security measures have been taken to increase security levels. These included the installation air-conditioning intakes at the top of the roof to prevent unauthorized entry as well as fire-fighting lift cores.

Heron Quays on the Isle of Dogs

Heron Quays is another area of development within the Isle of Dogs. Amongst the popular skyscrapers here comprise of 10 Upper Bank Street, the 40 Bank Street, 50 Bank Street, 20 Bank Street and the 25 Bank Street. These skyscrapers function as offices for many prestigious international firms, such as Lehman Brothers for 25 Bank Street, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher < Flom (UK) LLP for 40 Bank Street and Clifford Chance for 10 Upper Bank Street.

The 25 Bank Street consists of 32 storeys with floor space of 102,250m2, and functions as the new European Headquarters for the Lehman Brothers, a world renowned investment banking firm. Some of the facilities set up within this building include 4 trading floors, a data center and a TV broadcast studio. Similarly, 20th Bank Street is currently still under construction and is to be occupied by Morgan Stanley. Facilities in these building include data centers, trading floors, and engineering facilities. With all renowned tenants located here, Heron Quays would be an ideal location for a virtual office & Office Space for companies in the financial or legal sectors.