EC2 is the City of London’s largest postcode bordered by Cheapside and Threadneedle Street to the South and The Silicon Roundabout at Old Street and Shoreditch to the North. To the East Bishopsgate marks its boundary with the insurance district of EC3 and St Martin’s Le Grand and Aldersgate Street and the boundary with Clerkenwell.
Traditionally EC2 is the City’s main financial services area and houses The Bank of England on Threadneedle Street. The London Stock Exchange was located on Old Broad Street opposite the LIFFE (now known as The ICE and based on Chiswell Street) in the Royal Exchange.
The prime traditional financial area was between Bishopsgate and King Street to the south of London Wall, but the development of Broadgate in the late 1980’s dragged the core north close to Liverpool Street station where some of the major financial institutions now reside. Key occupiers in the area include UBS, ICAP, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, RBS, Bloomberg and Deutsche Bank.
The tenant mix elsewhere in EC2 is very diverse and includes a wide variety of professional firms including lawyers and accountants, actuaries and surveyors. Key such occupiers are Linklaters, Smith & Williamson, White & Case and Herbert Smith Freehills. More recently the northern fringes, previously the home of the printing trade have become the epicentre of the Technology sector of London. Around the Silicon Roundabout and Shoreditch this area has attracted a huge number of tech firms and a wealth of young tech savvy talent.
The boom of tech businesses around the Silicon Roundabout and Shoreditch has lead to some major redevelopment and regeneration. The Tea Building in Shoreditch, by Derwent London was probably the first key building and major developments have followed with major success, including Oliver’s Yard, The Bower, The White Collar Factory and AlphaBeta.
Several institutions have also assisted with the transformation of this part of the City, including The City of London Corporation, which is the local authority of the City of London. Much of the credit for the transformation in terms of planning and initiatives relating to fibre and power are City Corporation led. In addition the UK Government and the Tech City Initiative have grasped the potential of the tech boom.
Moorgate EC2 is also home of the Financial Conduct Authority which oversees the financial markets.
EC2 is extremely well served by the transport networks via the underground stations at Bank (Northern, Central, District, Circle and Waterloo & City lines) and Liverpool Street mainline and underground station (Central, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines). In 2018 Liverpool and Moorgate will benefit further from the opening of the Elizabeth line (Crossrail) which will provide rapid connectivity to Heathrow, Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road in the west and Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Stratford International and ultimately Shenfield in the East.
As a result of the success of London and particularly areas such as Shoreditch and Spitalfields there has been a change in the mix of business and leisure activities in the City. At the Western end of Cheapside is New Change, one of the largest new shopping centres built in Central London. At the other end of Cheapside “The Ned” mixed use development has opening which offers a wide variety of bars, restaurant and club facilities as well as a 252 room luxury hotel.
BBG’s office is in King Street, in the heart of the City and EC2, located at its junction of Poultry, Cheapside, King Street and Queen Street. Our client base includes many landlords and occupiers with offices in EC2.
