Prime London office uptake 'beats five-year high'

Office design news from Morgan Lovell

Published on 27-01-2011

Office uptake in London's Docklands and City districts topped that seen in the last five years in 2010, a new report has shown.

Data complied by Cushman & Wakefield revealed that 7.6 million sq ft of office interior space was taken on by firms in these areas over the last 12 months - easily beating the records for both 2008 and 2009 (6.6 million and 4.6 million sq ft respectively).

Furthermore, the report highlighted three major developments that are set to be completed in 2011, meaning this year could be another bumper one for office uptake - The Heron Tower, Cannon Place and 200 Aldersgate Street.

Meanwhile, a recent report by Knight Frank revealed that uptake of office space was actually greater last year than in the boom years for the City prior to the economic downturn.

"While other sectors are seeing tentative signs of recovery, financial firms are the driving force by a large margin," head of commercial research at the firm James Roberts said. "These figures show just how critical the financial sector is to the economy of London."

Posted by Adrian Norman