Shoreditch hipsters fail to drag financial services from the City
Financial services firms are still flocking to the City despite the attractions of hipster hubs such as Shoreditch and Old Street.
Data from estate agent Stirling Ackroyd showed that between the the second quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 the number of financial businesses in City postcodes increased by 8.6 per cent.
In the same period, there was a 5.1 per cent increase in firms setting up shop outside the traditional City postcodes.
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But even those searching outside the City itself don’t stray too far from the Square Mile’s skyscrapers. Key areas for financial services outside the City include the Isle of Dogs (E14), where the number of businesses in the sector increased by 11 per cent.
In SE1 – comprising Lambeth, Waterloo, Borough and the Old Kent Road – the number of finance businesses increased from 1,573 to 1,640, a jump of four per cent.
John Duckworth, lead director of UK occupier services at JLL, said that in the search for the best graduate recruits, businesses are becoming more open-minded about where they based. In particular, financial services firms need to think about how well-connected their offices are to London’s more affordable neighbourhoods.