Your guide to commercial property | Area guides

Hackney was once east/central London’s industrial hub, with a huge number of manufacturing businesses based there. Now, though, the zone two borough is one of the coolest places to be based in London, thanks to its lively communities, rich variety of dining options and great places to let your hair down when the working day is done.

Fitzrovia is a Zone One area in central London close to the West End. It’s a vibrant shopping and student area, with endless shops and a high student population due to its close proximity to many of London’s leading educational institutions.

Finsbury Park is a Zone 2 area in North London with a distinctly urban feel. It is directly north of Highbury with Arsenal’s football ground, the Emirates Stadium, located just on the outskirts. At its centre lies the park it is named after. This 110-acre green space acts as a communal hub and is home to a boating lake, café and sports facilities, such as tennis courts, a skate park, running track and areas for ball games.

Wakefield is a small city in West Yorkshire, famed for rhubarb, liquorice and sculpture. It’s just south of Leeds, and nearby Castleford and Pontefract are considered part of the district. Dewsbury, Huddersfield and Halifax are also within a short drive.

North Lanarkshire is one of Scotland’s 32 council areas and sits in the central South of the country. North Lanarkshire is occupied by many who commute into the nearby city of Glasgow and comprises many of the city’s suburbs.

Elephant and Castle is a vibrant central London area just south of the River Thames. It’s known for having an ethnically diverse population, with a particularly high percentage of Latin American residents and an excellent arts scene thanks to its close proximity to London South Bank University.

You’ll find Clerkenwell north of the City of London, between Farringdon, Saint Pancras, Angel and Hoxton. Its fairly central location has made it a key place for over 100 years. It once housed the headquarters of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John Jerusalem and later became a fashionable residential area with spas, tea gardens and theatres. During the industrial revolution, it rose as a hub for printing, brewing, distilling and clock repairs.

Wirral is a metropolitan borough in Merseyside. It is sandwiched between the River Mersey and the River Dee, which separate it from Liverpool and North Wales respectively. Lots of people know it as ‘The Wirral’.

Clapham is one of London’s most popular residential districts, and businesses have flocked to the area to make the most of its vibrant scene. It’s situated south of the Thames, between Battersea, Stockwell and Brixton, with areas in both the Borough of Lambeth and the Borough of Wandsworth.

Chelsea has been home to members of English nobility since the 16th century, when King Henry VIII bought a manor in the area to house his wives. It was largely a market garden until the 19th century and was once described as ‘a village of palaces’ due to the large, ornately constructed houses in the area.

Trafalgar Square, the Strand, Whitehall and the Mall all meet at Charing Cross junction. It’s a prestigious area home to the National Gallery, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Banqueting House and Benjamin Franklin House. Businesses based in the area are within walking distance of Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Leicester Square and Embankment.

Fife is a peninsula, most of which is accessible from surrounding regions by one of four bridges. You’ll find St Andrews to the far east and Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline along the southern coastline. The north is known for its rugged landscape while the south has a distinctive semi-industrial character, as a result of the 19th century revolution.

Canary Wharf is one of London’s financial and business hubs, located on the northern edge of the Isle of Dogs in the east London borough of Tower Hamlets. It’s currently home to leading names in the international financial services, legal and business sectors. The UK’s second tallest building, One Canada Square, can be found in Canary Wharf, only beaten by The Shard.

Famous for its desirable and fashionable residential areas as well numerous cultural and tourist destinations, Bloomsbury is located in the West End of London. Its location puts it right in the middle of one the world’s most vibrant cities, with Covent Garden to the south and Regent’s Park and St. Pancras to the north.

Blackwall played a vital role in the development of London’s historic East End docklands area. Its place by the side of the Thames has made it an important entry point to London for centuries, but it was in the early 19th century when the British Empire’s presence in Asia was emerging and an area of Blackwall was developed for the East India Company that it really took off. 

Proudly boasting the majestic dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, Blackfriars is one of the most prominent and ancient districts of London. The area has been a crucial and inimitable part of London’s cultural and economic life for centuries, and has constantly reinvented itself over this time, welcoming new commercial developments and businesses among the grand old buildings.

With a number of art galleries, museums, live music venues and annual festivals, Bristol is a lively city that attracts thousands of visitors each year. A number of restaurants and bars are dotted around the banks of the floating harbour, which give the city a buzzing centre – particularly in the summertime.

Today Bethnal Green is still down to earth, but like most of East London, it has attracted higher-earning professionals, a large migrant population and of course, the hipsters. As a result this diverse neighbourhood has become something of a melting pot, with a richly diverse economy with increasing confidence and a property market to match.

Bermondsey, which was severely damaged in the aerial bombing of WWII, is undergoing a renaissance. As well as a growing commercial property sector, boosted by sustained demand for restaurants, bars, shops and offices, Bermondsey is also home to some jewels of the London tourist scene including HMS Belfast, and some of the city’s most interesting museums and cultural attractions.

Manchester is known around the world as the birthplace of the industrial revolution, which saw it grow at an astonishing rate thanks to textile manufacturing and later the engineering and chemical industries. Financial services companies expanded to the city to support these trades, creating a commercial hub.

The Belgravia of today counts some truly exclusive restaurants, hotels, bars and members-only clubs, as well as some of West London’s chicest shopping, and an array of professional services for the wealthy, from banking to architecture to luxury travel agencies.

A medieval city with a heavy Georgian influence, Edinburgh has a rich heritage and distinctive architecture. In the city centre, you’ll find the castle, winding streets and majestic Neoclassical buildings, while just outside lies the monarch’s resident, Holyrood Palace.

Since as far back as the 19th century, Bayswater has been synonymous with wealth, tourism, fine-dining, and the luxury living. This well-heeled part of West London, adjacent to Notting Hill on one side and Hyde Park on the other, can feel like a world away from central London, despite the fact that it’s only around 10 minutes to Oxford Circus by Tube.

Battersea is home to one of the most iconic buildings to be found anywhere on the banks of the River Thames, the famous Power Station. Now decommissioned, the old coal-power station is in the midst of a significant phased mixed-use redevelopment, which is not only breathing new life to the listed building itself, but the whole surrounding area.

Today, Liverpool’s bohemian creative scene is flourishing with areas such as the Baltic Triangle and Ropewalks attracting innovative businesses. You’ll find quirky eateries, boutique shops, creative companies and music venues dotted about both districts.