Shoreditch Serviced Offices to Rent | Shoreditch Offices to Let

Serviced Offices in Shoreditch, London & Commercial Office Space in Shoreditch

Shoreditch lies within the London Borough of Hackney and is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London.  There are two versions for the origins of the name Shoreditch – one, an early tradition in the words of an ancient ballad which recounts the death of Jane Shore, the mistress of Edward IV in the eponymous ditch.  However, more realistically, the area was named as 'Soersditch', long before this and another suggestion is 'Sewer Ditch', which related to an ancient watercourse in a boggy area adjacent to the fens of Finsbury/Fensbury to the west.

In the past the area of Shoreditch was defined by the borders of the medieval parish of Shoreditch which later defined the borders of the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch until its demise in 1965 since which date the borders have been less formally defined.  Although now part of the inner city, Shoreditch was previously an extramural suburb of the City of London, centred on Shoreditch Church forever famous for the line' when I grow rich say the bells of Shoreditch', from the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons.  Contemporary Shoreditch is often seen as the area bordered to the north by Old Street, to the east by the northern end of Brick Lane, to the south by Old Spitalfields Market and to the west by Old Street Station. However, Hoxton to the north of Old Street was historically part of the Shoreditch parish and borough and is still, often, conflated with it resulting in the names "Hoxditch" or "Shoho" sometimes being applied to the whole.

As Shoreditch was outside the jurisdiction of the City fathers and their somewhat moralistic view on life it became the location for the early theatres – the first known simply as The Theatre, appearing in 1576 and the venue for some of Shakespeare’s plays as was the nearby Curtain Theatre.  In 1599 at the expiration of its lease Shakespeare's Company literally upped sticks, and moved the timbers of 'The Theatre' to Southwark to build The Globe Theatre. The Curtain Theatre continued performing plays in Shoreditch until at least the mid 17th century.  In the 19^th and early 20th centuries Shoreditch became a centre of entertainment to rival the West-End and boasted many theatres and music halls which sadly no longer survive today.

Wealthy traders attracted by the convenient locality began to move in to the area in the 17th century

and were soon joined by the area’s first wave of refugees – Huguenots from France – who were silk weavers and established a textile industry centred to the south around Spitalfields. In addition by the 19th century Shoreditch was also the centre of the furniture industry whose history is recorded in the Geffrye Museum.  However, despite this industrial expansion the area with its two centres of industry declined, and by the end of the 19th century, Shoreditch had become a notorious crime and poverty ridden area.  During the intervening years Shoreditch had welcomed other waves of refugees including the Irish and Jews in the late 19th and early 20th century and Bengalis and Somalis in the mid 20th century.  The poverty of the area had been exacerbated by extensive devastation of the housing stock in the Blitz of London during World War II and insensitive redevelopment in the early post war period.

However since the early 1990’s Shoreditch has seen a resurgence in its popularity prompted by its proximity to the City of London and has developed in to a fashionable and sought after area as the result of a considerable regeneration and gentrification efforts.  Also office developments associated with the City of London have grown into the Shoreditch area, due to the pressure on space and lower overheads. The Broadgate development close to Liverpool Street Station was the largest of such developments in Europe.  The area also became popular with dot com industries and by the creative industries and media businesses and those who work in them. Former industrial buildings were converted to offices and flats and the area is now well known for its clubs and pubs which offer a variety of venues to rival those of the West End. The cosmopolitan and vibrant retail environment offers art galleries, bars, restaurants and cafes together with many independent and specialist units as well as high street names and in addition the area is home to several famous street markets offering a comprehensive and exhaustive range of goods - Columbia Road, Brick Lane, Spitalfields and Petticoat Lane.

The nearest London Underground Station is Liverpool Street together with its mainline station but the area is also accessible through Old Street and Aldgate Underground Stations.  The newly opened overground station Shoreditch High Street is served by the East London line.  All connections give access to Canary Wharf, City of London as well as onward access to the West End, City Airport as well as Gatwick Airport, Heathrow Airport, Luton Airport and Stansted Airport.  The area is also served by a comprehensive local and cross London bus routes.  Road access too is via the A10 part of which in its past had been the Roman Ermine Street and is also known now as the Old North Road and was a major coaching route to the north exiting the City at Bishopsgate and also the A11 both giving access to Blackwell Tunnel and the M25.

The Shoreditch area offers commercial properties of varying age and size with development still ongoing and attracting corporate, media, as well as IT companies who wish to take-up occupancy in this much desired area of London.  Some offices are based in buildings of considerable historical interest as well as new build and refurbishments.  Furthermore, a large number of buildings exist in media style buildings in the form of converted warehouses as well as loft type of studio space.  Shoreditch is superbly located for the City and Canary Wharf and accordingly offers a comprehensive range of office space to let on both conventional more traditional terms as well as Shoreditch serviced offices to let on highly flexible terms. These different types of offices for rent are offered alongside access to meeting rooms as well as virtual offices in this buzzy area. For help in securing the most competitively priced deal on office space to rent in the Shoreditch area or commercial office space to rent in this prime and historic London location, please contact Shoreditch’s office space expert via http://www.freeofficesearch.co.uk or call our local Shoreditch office on 020 7788 9295.