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City of London news

Manulife Asset Management chooses London Wall for new European HQ

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Manulife Asset Management is expanding its presence with new European headquarters in the City of London.

The company which has doubled its headcount in London over the past 18 months to almost 40 staff says it will be establishing its new European HQ at 1 London Wall.

Currently based at 18 St Swithin’s Lane, the company is taking 15,000 sq ft of space at the office property which was completed in 2003 and designed by Fosters & Partners. It sits opposite the current Museum of London building, midway between St Paul’s and Barbican serviced offices in the City stations.

Claude Chene, Global Head of Distribution, Manulife Asset Management, commented:

“The business recognises that to serve the global investor community, it is critical to have a well-developed and robust European presence to complement its growing North American and Asian businesses. With the resources to continue to make the necessary investments in people and infrastructure and the patience required to build a successful business in Europe, this is a unique opportunity for us.”

Flypast over the City for Queen’s birthday

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ALMOST thirty aircraft and helicopters brought the sky over the City of London alive on Saturday afternoon in a fly past to mark the Queen’s birthday.

The assortment of planes came across in eight waves, flying across the capital and over Buckingham Palace where the Royal family were on the balcony.

The flypast climaxed with the traditional colourful display from the ever-popular Red Arrows. Other craft taking part in the flypast included a Spitfire, a Hurricane, a Hercules, a Voyager and two Typhoons.

Photos of the Queen’s Birthday Flypast over and behind the City of London

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Photos: Household Cavalry exercises its “Freedom of the City of London”

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THE SQUARE mile was treated to a magnificent military parade this morning as the Household Cavalry marched through the City of London.

More than 90 cavalrymen and horses set off from Hyde Park Barracks earlier today led by the Household Cavalry Mounted Band.

They were joined at St Paul’s Cathedral by a dismounted contingent of 125 cavalrymen and 4 PANTHER armoured vehicles

Once they arrived at Guildhall, they marched past HRH The Princess Royal and Alderman Luder standing in for the Lord Mayor.

The Household Cavalry is made up of two regiments: the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards.  This morning’s parade was the first time that the Freedom has been exercised by the Blues and Royals since the Falklands War and the first time in history that it has been exercised by the Life Guards.

Photos of the Household Cavalry on Fleet Street today:

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Photos by Vickie Flores

 

 

Firefighters rescue man after elevator drops 30ft

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EMERGENCY services were called to the scene yesterday after an elevator dropped by 30 feet with someone inside.

The London Fire Brigade attended the office building in Austin Friars to rescue the man inside the lift.

They were called out at 11.00 after the elevator had suddenly dropped from the fifth floor to the second floor.

Fire crews assisted the man out of the lift and he received further treatment from the London Ambulance Service.

Plans on show for City’s tallest skyscraper

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Image: DBOX, courtesy Eric Parry Architects

PLANS for a huge new skyscraper in the City of London have gone on display at a public consultation at the Bishopsgate Institute.

If built, the Eric Parry-designed tower at 1, Undershaft would be the tallest skyscraper in the Square Mile – taller even than 22 Bishopsgate which was given planning permission just a few weeks ago and will itself be the City’s tallest tower when finished.

The new 309-metre tower would have elevated at the ground level with a new public square created and there would be a new public viewing gallery at the top.

The public exhibition of the plans opened yesterday at the Bishopshate Institute and continues today and tomorrow between 8am and 9pm.

The mega-tower, nicknamed the Trellis, would replace the St Helen’s tower which is 118 metres tall and has 28 floors. Designed by Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership, St Helen’s opened at the end of the 60s as the headquarters of Commercial Union.

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Green light for City’s tallest skyscraper yet

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CITY planners have given the go-ahead to a new skyscraper which would be the tallest yet in the Square Mile.

The new 62-storey 22 Bishopsgate was approved yesterday by the City of London’s Planning and Transportation Committee.

Second in London only to the Shard, the new 278-metre tall tower is planned for the site of what was going to be the Pinnacle until construction stopped on that scheme, nick-named the Helter Skelter, in 2012. Over 2 million square feet of office space in the City will be created by the new development.

22 Bishopsgate, designed by PLP Architects, will have retail units at the ground level and a public restaurant, bar and viewing gallery at the top levels. The new skyscraper will also have bike storage in the basement for 1,500 cycles.

Three City offices gain listed building status but Tower 42 overlooked

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THREE office buildings in the City of London have just been chosen to receive listed building status.

The properties are among fourteen post-war offices listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport based on recommendations by English Heritage.

The chosen offices are:

  • Brown Shipley, Moorgate (Fitzroy Robinson & Partners, 1973-5)
  • 30 Cannon Street (formerly Credit Lyonnais), (Whinney, Son & Austen Hall, 1974-7)
  • 1 Finsbury Avenue (Arup Associates’ Group 2 led by Peter Foggo, 1982-4)

Winners of the listed status are chosen because they “show how architecture has responded to radical changes in the way we work.”

Three other office buildings in the City of London were considered by English Heritage but were not recommended to DCMS including the Tower 42 (formerly Natwest Tower) which was the country’s tallest building when it was built. The other two properties not listed on this occasion are 80 Cannon Street and 150 Leadenhall Street/6-8 Bishopsgate.

Related: Offices in the City of London

See Havengore mark 50th anniversary of Churchill’s funeral

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THE BOAT that carried the body of Winston Churchill on the day of his funeral will take to the river this Friday fifty years after he was laid to rest.

Tower Bridge will open in salute at 12:40 as Havengore leads a small procession of boats up river from HMS President, Wapping.

There will be plenty of vantage points on bridges and along the Thames path to watch as the former PLA hydrographic survey vessel carries members of the Churchill family in a poignant ceremony.

Bagpipes will be played on Tower Bridge and there will be a gun salute on HMS Belfast as the flotilla heads up river to a service by the Houses of Parliament where a wreath will be cast in to the Thames.

Havengore will pass under London Bridge at 12:53, Southwark Bridge at 12:55, the Millennium Bridge at 12:58 and Blackfriars Bridge at 13:00.

Winston Churchill was granted a state funeral which took place in the City at St Paul’s Cathedral and he was buried in Bladon, Oxfordshire.

Coworking office space to open in the City

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OFFICE space startup company WeWork is to open a location in the City of London.

The US collaborative co-worker office provider already has two centres in London and has now inked a deal for a third, in the Broadgate Estate.

WeWork has leased 62,000 sq ft in 199 Bishopsgate which was given a big revamp in 2012.

Developer British Land says that the deal sees 199 Bishopsgate, and indeed now the whole Broadgate office campus, completely let.

Adam Neumann, CEO and Co-Founder of WeWork, said: “We are thrilled to expand our community outside of the US and facilitate connection across the world. We are excited to grow with the independent workforce in London and help fulfil the demand for workspace, but also provide access to our members.”

At the other side of Broadgate, British Land has announced a planning application to redevelop its 100 Liverpool Street building which would see three new storeys added.

Gherkin gets a new owner

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The Gherkin has been sold to the Brazilian billionare Joseph Safra.

His company, Safra Investments, this week announced the acquisition of one of the City’s most recognisable and popular buildings with a reported sale price of over £700million.

The sale came about after it was announced this summer that the 30 St Mary Axe, to use its more formal name, had gone in to administration.

It was initially called the Swiss Re Tower when it opened a decade ago and Swiss Re remain a major tenant in the Foster and Partners-designed skyscraper.

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