Developments such as the planned Olympic Park and the business district of Canary Wharf are making east London one of the city’s most exciting areas

10 key facts about business and life in the east of the city.

• Massive transformation: east London’s Thames Gateway is London’s biggest development project — extending from the City of London eastwards and covering 163 square miles. Investment in infrastructure, housing, education, manufacturing and development totals billions in private and public sector funds. The area will be home to huge economic and population growth over the next 20 years.
• 2012 Games opportunity: winning the right to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has accelerated the transformation of this area and generated commercial opportunities worth billions. Stratford’s $6 billion 500-acre Olympic site will be Europe’s largest urban park.  The Olympics will create 12,000 new jobs, $30.5 billion transport improvements, and an economic impact on London of more than $8.9 billion.
• Diverse labour pool: East London is home to 1.9 million people including 11 separate communities of over 10,000 foreign nationals.
• Excellent transport links: East London’s City Airport is designed for business travel. With fast check-in services, executives can be sitting on the plane less than 30 minutes after leaving their desks. All of London’s other international airports are within 60 minutes of Canary Wharf. The new Stratford International station will put Europe within easy reach by rail. The Jubilee Line connects Stratford and Canary Wharf to major railway terminals while the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) connects Canary Wharf and the rest of East London directly with the City.
• Contrasting commerce: the area ranges from high-profile, award-winning developments of Canary Wharf to industrial facilities of a well-developed environmental technologies, manufacturing, R&D, logistics and distribution hub.
• Creative hotspot: east London is one the of the most progressive areas of the capital and home to architects, fashion designers, furniture makers, digital media companies, artists and galleries. Famous areas include Hackney, Shoreditch, Brick Lane and Whitechapel.
• Financial HQ: Canary Wharf is home to a high concentration of headquarters and is an established financial services centre rivalling the City.  Companies include Barclays, Reuters, Citigroup, The Hartford, HSBC, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. Some 65,000 people work here and area is predicted to employ 100,000 by 2010.
• Best boroughs for your sector:
  • Barking and Dagenham (engineering, automotive, environmental technologies, manufacturing, distribution)
  • Bexley (manufacturing, environmental technologies, creative industries, distribution)
  • Greenwich (manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, gaming)
  • Hackney (creative industries, financial services, business services, food, printing, furniture, manufacturing)
  • Havering (financial services, environmental technologies, manufacturing, back office, contact centre, manufacturing, distribution)
  • Lewisham (financial services, creative industries, back office)
  • Newham (manufacturing, film/TV production, construction, back office, manufacturing, distribution)
  • Redbridge (financial services, HQs, sales and marketing, back office, contact centres)
  • Tower Hamlets (Canary Wharf —  financial services, software, publishing , business services, PR/advertising, oil & gas;  UK and European HQs. City Fringe — financial services, software and services, PR/advertising, digital media, design and marketing, biotechnology, food processing, HQs, distribution, R&D).
• Affordable property: the area offers a growing stock of commercial and industrial property at some of the most affordable rates in London. The A13 and A2 corridors running eastwards either side of the Thames are active areas for new industrial and logistics developers. Canary Wharf offers some of the best office space in London.
• Education: the five major universities in Thames Gateway London (Goldsmiths, Greenwich, Queen Mary’s, University of East London and London Metropolitan) have more than 83,000 students.

We work closely with the regional agency for central London, Gateway to London, to provide our clients with the detailed area specific advice and information they need.

Contact our east London expert, Craig Harrison, to discuss whether this area of London can meet your business needs.