SOUTHBANK IS ESTABLISHED AS A CORE BUSINESS DISTRICT

News UK, Al Jazeera, and Ogilvy & Mather are all moving to Southbank from other parts of London, with Al Jazeera taking up home in The Shard and News UK in The Place at London Bridge Quarter.

Once considered a fringe district, Southbank is now London's third City, comparable to the City of London and City of Westminster. It has suddenly become apparent to influential and the more forward thinking companies that the South Bank has plenty more to offer than just a nice view of river. With new transport infrastructures, a wave of quality mixed-use schemes, and rising tech, media, and professional office demand, the Southbank is the place to be for a pioneering business.

Stephen Clifton, Head of Central London Offices at Knight Frank, commented: "Back in the 1990s, Southbank was considered to be a 'fringe' or 'back office' district, but with firms like News UK, Al-Jazeera, and Ogilvy & Mather moving their HQs there, I would say it is firmly established as a core business district. Across the world we are seeing former industrial areas transforming as media creative firms open up city-centre office locations. We are seeing this in New York, in places like the Meat Packing district and Brooklyn, and the same is happening in Southbank, which is a similar former-industrial, up-and-coming district."

"What has transformed Southbank's fortunes is that high quality office buildings have been developed in recent years, and new transport infrastructure built, which has opened up the market to tenants seeking new headquarters buildings. Southbank has future waves of office development to come around London Bridge, Waterloo, and Battersea, and new infrastructure projects - like the Northern Line extension, and the London Bridge station upgrade. So I would say the foundations are being laid for another burst of growth."