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City of London office shortages and FinTech firms fuelling rise of financial services hubs

High rents and dwindling supply are forcing financial service firms out of the City of London, the capital’s traditional financial heartland, and into emerging finance hubs in east and south London according to new research by Stirling Ackroyd.

The property firm has found that the likes of Clerkenwell, Lambeth and Camden Town are all becoming hotspots for financial service-related firms and startups, as London’s financial services landscape continues to shift from the City.

Predictably, Canary Wharf’s predominance means that the Isle of Dogs still leads the way with 1,718 financial firms registered within its E14 postcode, but the figures also show similarly thriving finance hubs across the capital.

Regeneration south of the river around the London Bridge area has fostered a thriving ecosystem of financial firms in the likes of Waterloo and Lambeth, which now boasts the second highest concentration of finance-focused businesses, at 1,640, outside the City.

Andrew Bridges, Managing Director of Stirling Ackroyd, believes these latest figures show that the capital’s financial credentials now stretch far beyond the confines of the City.

He commented: “London’s financial heart has always seemed the City of London. But the scarcity of City office space and the growing attractiveness of new locations over the wall is causing an increasing number of businesses to bypass the City or relocate.”

Elsewhere, London’s reputation as one of the world’s foremost FinTech hubs is also causing its tech and finance scenes cross-pollinate in East London, with the City Road leading into Clerkenwell showing a significant uptick in the number of finance firms in the area.

Finance firms attracted by the entrepreneurial energy in East London’s startup scene, has meant that the area now has a greater concentration of financial services companies per square kilometre than the City of London itself.

Andrew added: “Budding financial businesses are gathering in the East of London – drawn in by the start-up culture and gradually transforming the area’s reputation as a cultural hinterland into a serious economic rival.

“Our data shows an emerging ‘game of loans’ as rival centres emerge to try to take the city’s crown. City Road, Shoreditch and Old Street have all been seen as top tech locations, but now the focus is turning to finance. Fintech is the future and the city fringes are the perfect place for this to unfold.”