The Financial Times has reported this week that Canary Wharf has now overtaken the City as the largest employer of bankers in Europe. The transfer of 8,000 JP Morgan staff to 25 Bank Street will cement the rise (literally and figuratively) of the area. See the original article here.
Whilst the number of banks calling the city home is higher, large operations such as HSBC and Barclays, sited at 8 Canada Square and 1 Churchill Place respectively, and JP's American neighbours Citigroup and Morgan Stanley mean that Docklands has a greater number of staff. The shift is seemingly driven by economic rents and the availability of large amounts of space in the same building.
Although it is clear that Canary Wharf has become a great financial centre - other industries have managed to find their way into the mix as well. If we look at the number of office deals since 2010 for the Docklands area in terms of occupiers, two other players are evident. Broadly termed under electronics; software consultants, data centres and other tech based industries constitute the same percentage of deals as the financial sector; not surprising given that they provide the support that keeps the financial element running. The government is also making inroads East with LOCOG, the Financial Services Ombudsman and the EMEA all taking new space, for geographical and also financial reasons.
It's great to see that London is catching up with some great office environments. Having been to Hong Kong and New York I always felt we were a little behind but not anymore. It makes office cleaning in London more fun!