West Central London

Another prominent business area within London is the area of St. James’s in West Central London, bounded by Piccadilly, Green Park, The Mall and The Haymarket. Historically renowned as a residential location for the affluent such as Marlborough House and St. James’s Palace, this area is now turned into a commercial area ever since World War II and are now well-known for its high rentals. Commercial offices are concentrated around the area of St. James’s Square, where the BP headquarters at No. 1 St James’s Square, the Rio Tinto head office at No. 6 St James’s Square, the East India Club at No. 16 St James’s Square and Norfolk house at No. 31 St. James’s Square are all situated. Additionally, Jermyn Street in St. James’s is a shopping street which is renowned for fine shirts such as Turnbull & Asser, Thomas Pink and Hilditch & Key. Thus, this street would be an excellent location for a virtual office or office space of companies involved in the tailoring of menswear.

East London virtual office

The other areas within the London include The East End, East London, North London, South London and West London. The East End essentially refers to the eastern end of the City of London. Traditionally the Port of London, The East End had always been regarded as one of the poorest areas within London. This was where the influx of immigrants into the country mostly resided, including the Jews and Bangladeshi communities. With this, much racism existed in the East End even till today, with events such as the 1999 bombing in Brick Lane.

Being one of the poorest areas in London, much regeneration and development had been planned for the East End, including the famous Canary Wharf development in the Isle of Dogs. Perhaps one of the most prominent communities here is the East End Film Society, which is the country’s largest film community with a member size of 450. Many of the activities of this society such as network meetings and workshops have been conducted here. Therefore the East End would be an ideal location for virtual offices of companies involved in the film industry.

East London is currently being targeted for development as it has been prepared for the 2012 Olympics. As such, the extent of development in this area is humongous, comprising of the upgrade of the A12 and A13 trunk roads and the construction of the Docklands Light Railway project.

West London virtual office

The area of West London mainly comprises of expensive and high class residential homes, encompassing residential locations such as Notting Hill. In addition to that, Portobello Road is well-known for its antique markets, while the areas of Kensington and Chelsea have been regarded as the most expensive areas to live in within London. Furthermore, the operating center for the national television station BBC is also located in West London, specifically in the area of White City. Incidentally, the London Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe, is also located at the extreme west section of West London. With this, West London would project an expensive and wealthy image to any company setting up a virtual office or renting an office space here. Specifically, the association with antique markets would make a virtual office along Portobello Road highly suitable for antique businesses.

North London virtual office

The entire area north of the River Thames is regarded as North London. One of the prominent features of this area is the fact that North London is still very picturesque with its assortment of hills and parks. What’s more, much of the community residing in this area includes Jews and Muslims, especially in the areas of Stamford Hill. One of the more affluent areas in North London includes the area of Islington, which is also home to the Arsenal football team. The main street of Islington is known as Upper Street and consists of an assortment of retail outlets such as boutiques and restaurants. The Business Design Centre within Islington is a prominent exhibition center covering 65,000 square feet of space, and had been one of the largest exhibition halls during the 1800s. Similar to Portobello Road, Islington is also another area that is famous for antique shops.

south London virtual office

South London covers a range of famous districts, such as Wimbledon and Greenwich. Located south of the River Thames, South London consists less of government buildings but is more skewed towards the industries of art galleries and music. This explains why famous venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, the British Film Institute and the National Theatre are located here. In addition to that, galleries such as the Dulwich Picture Gallery, England’s oldest art gallery, the Saatchi Collection and the Tate Modern Gallery are found here as well. Richmond Park, the largest city park in Europe is also located amidst the renowned arts and theater venues. With this, South London is truly an ideal location for a virtual office or office space to be set up specifically for businesses involved in the arts and theater industries. Moreover, the recognition of Wimbledon for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships would make this a suitable location for a virtual office for services involved in supporting the tennis championship.

Conclusion

In conclusion, launching a virtual office or renting an office space in London would clearly add to the convenience and reputation of any corporation. With the major business districts such as the City of London (the famous Square mile) and the Docklands with the Canary Wharf being highly suited for a virtual office or an office space, all facilities built here have truly been made to meet business class standards. Also, as a major financial center of the world, London may be one of the most strategic cities when considering a virtual office or an office space within Europe.

City of london (Square mile)

The City of London is poised for further development in skyscrapers of greater height, grandeur and uniqueness. These would include The Bishopsgate Tower, which has been uniquely designed with a helter-skelter motive. With a façade that resembles a snakeskin, this tower is to be built to sustain a natural ventilation system as well as the use of natural light. At a height of 945 ft, the Bishopsgate Tower has levels 3 to 9 planned to be utilized for financial trading purposes out of a total of 52 floors.

Another skyscraper in the works is the Minerva Building standing at a height of 712 ft and to be located along Houndsditch Street and built with 53 floors in total. The key feature of this structure is the fact that it is the first building in London to provide more than 1,000,000 sq feet of floor space, with 4 trading floors and space for a restaurant at the top floor. Apart from that, the design resembling 4 open books built with aluminum and glass, and also with an energy saving ventilation system for the façade.

Indeed there are many other towers that are currently being constructed within the city of London, such as The Leadenhall Building and the Heron Tower. Other towers include the 30 St Mary Axe building, also known as the Gherkin or the Swiss Re Tower. Standing at 590 ft tall, this unique building designed to the shape of a slice of pickle has won its designers the RIBA Stirling Prize award. Indeed the cone shaped design had been intended to reduce wind turbulence in addition to energy saving features incorporated also with natural ventilation. Additionally, glazing within the shaft creates heat insulation for the building. This shaft pulls air from the building during the summer and passive solar heating during the winter. The main tenant of this building is the Swiss Re re-insuring company, with other tenants such as the Hypo Real Estate Bank International, Allianz and Cardinal Asset Management occupying other floors in this building. With this, the 30 St Mary Axe building would be a suitable location for a virtual office or an office space setup, especially for corporations involved in the financial industry.

The BT Tower at 60 Cleveland Street is one of the most famous buildings within the city of London. Previously known as the Post Office Tower or the London Telecom Tower, this 574 feet tower had been used to support microwave aerials as well as for telecommunications transmission. Apart from that, the cylindrical shape was designed to enable it not to shift more than 25 cm in winds of up to 150 km/h. Today, the BT Tower is one of the major communications hubs in London, and is still used for microwave links. Furthermore, televisions such as BBC and other broadcasters are also using this tower for broadcasting purposes. A rotating tower has also been built at the top of the tower, and completes one circle every 22 minutes.

The King William Street is where the Bank of London is located. Other than being located in the financial district of the Square Mile, King William Street comprises of a host of hotels such as the Threadneedles Hotel, restaurants such as Pret a Manger and bookstores such as WH Smith.

Threadneedle Street, which crosses with King William Street, is the former location of the London Stock Exchange until the year 2004. Currently this is where The Baltic Exchange was founded. Apart from that, there are also many restaurants located in the vicinity of this street such as Caffe Nero and shopping outlets such as the French Connection.

The London Wall Street which was historically a defensive wall built along the river Thames, now has its pieces at the Museum of London. This street runs from the Museum of London at the west to the area of Bishopsgate at the east. Many of the establishments located along this street include pubs like The Scottish Pound and restaurants such as the Sri Siam City. Shopping is also good here with men’s shops such as TM Lewin. Also the London Guildhall University is located along the London Wall Street.

City of London (the Square Mile)

The city of London is the largest city in the UK (United Kingdom), with an economy that contributes 17% of the entire GDP of this nation. This stems from the fact that London has been established as a center for finance, fashion, communications, arts and entertainment, in addition to being a major city historically and even till today, therefore one of the best place to setup a vitual office or rent an office space. It remains as a city with the highest number in population within the European Union, with 7.5 million people living in the city of London, and 14 million people located in its metropolitan area. Additionally, the strategic location of this city has earned it the reputation of being a transportation hub in addition to a popular tourist destination. Furthermore, this city acts as the center for many global institutions and multinationals, and also a city with many world famous museums, concert halls and stadiums.

The City of London is essentially inclusive of a huge area known as the Greater London, which consists of 32 London Boroughs and the City of London. All the other districts within London are located around or surrounding the City of London, which is the main financial district area. In terms of size though, the City of London accounts for only a small land area within Greater London. This is why it is known as The Square Mile, as this major financial district is only a square mile in size right in the middle of London.

In terms of location, the City of London is bordered by the City of Westminster on the western side, with various other streets and boroughs forming the boundaries. These would include the Strand, Chancery Lane, Moorgate, Goswell Road, MiddleSex Street and the borough of Tower Hamlets and Bishopsgate, among others.

Major streets in the City of London include Aldersgate Street, Aldgate and Bishopgate, all of which were named after gates of the London Wall. Along Aldersgate Street lies the Museum of London, while the Bishopsgate Street is where the banks such as the ABN Amro and the Royal Bank of Scotland are situated. Perhaps one of the more popular streets is Fleet Street, which is renowned as home to the press. This is despite the fact that most of the major newspaper corporations have already moved out of this location to other areas within London. The last company to leave was Reuters which moved out in 2005.

Other important streets within The City of London include Queen Victoria Street, King William Street, ThreadNeedle Street, Leadenhall Street and the London Wall Street. The area surrounding Queen Victoria Street is particularly renowned for a high density of multinational corporations and skyscrapers offering thousands of square feet of office space and forming the major financial district in London. One of the prominent buildings here is the 60 Queen Victoria Street, which has been developed with a bronze façade and bronze columns. The major tenant of this building is the renowned management consulting firm, Accenture.

Other corporations which have set up their offices along Queen Victoria Street include Aurora Gender Management at 49 Queen Victoria Street, BP Gas Marketing at 146 Queen Victoria Street, Bank Mandiri and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at 85 Queen Victoria Street, International Insider at 181 Queen Victoria Street and Philippines National Bank at 128 Queen Victoria Street. Amongst these buildings is the Albert Buildings, which is a host to many tenants from various industries such as David Alan Associates, a recruitment agency, Connelly-Manton, a printing company and Grier Olubi, who are solicitors. Therefore, having a virtual office or renting an office space along Queen Victoria Street in the midst of the City of London would be an ideal option for many industries.

One prominent tower within this central business district would be Tower 42 on Old Broad Street, which was the tallest building in the United Kingdom for a period of 10 years before being surpassed by One Canada Square in 1991. At a height of 600 ft, this tower had once been known as the NatWest Tower with an automated mechanical external cleaning system. However, after 1993, NatWest no longer remained as its anchor tenant and subsequently sold the building. Today, one of the most prominent tenants within Tower 42 is Vertigo 42, a restaurant and bar located on the 42nd floor. Other tenants here include the Bank of Korea, City Osteopath Clinics, Daewoo Securities, legal service companies such as Orrick Herrington < Sutcliffe and System Access, a computer systems development company. With such a variable mix of tenants, Tower 42 would be a good venue for virtual offices of many industries, as its location within the City of London is truly strategic and ideal.