Central London Fit-Out Market in 2019

Last Updated:

31st January 2020

Metropolis Property Research on the central London fit-out market in 2019.

So far this year to October 2019, there have been 380 office leases signed in central London, where the new office size has been 5,000 sq ft or more. The total London office space occupied in these medium/large deals was nearly 8.5m sq ft. There were 125 deals on newly constructed, newly refurbished or under construction office space (pre-lets). These ‘grade A’ deals have amounted to 4.3m sq ft in the first 9 months of the year. Stand out transactions included the EBRD’s pre-let of 420,000 sq ft at 5 Bank Street, E14, BT’s 328,000 sq ft at One Braham, E1, WeWork at Churchill Place, E14, Diageo at 16/17 Great Marlborough Street, W1 and various occupiers at 22 Bishopsgate, EC2.

Among the companies winning or tendering for work on major fit-out opportunities this year were ISG (winners of the £40m Diageo fit-out in Soho), Overbury (winners of the Cooley fit-out at 22 Bishopsgate), Collins Construction (Kirkland & Ellis at 30 St Mary Axe); StructureTone (£60m WPP fit-out at Rose Court, SE1); BW (Universal Music at Kings Cross).

No 1 Fit Out Contractor – ISG. ISG has been ranked as London’s No 1 fit out contractor again (consistent with previous surveys). This is 28% market share amongst the named TOP 10 firms.
No1 Fit Out Architect – Gensler. Gensler topped the list this times with a 17% market share.
No 1 Interior Project Manager – Gardiner & Theobald is London’s No 1 project manager on interior fit out projects. This is 20% market share amongst the named TOP 10 firms.
No 1 Tenants Agent – CBRE. CBRE has been ranked as London’s No 1 tenant agent

Looking ahead, there remain medium/large London office requirements of up to 7.5m sq ft, which could come to fruition over the next two years, with new requirements being added weekly. There is currently over 12m sq ft of London office space under construction, with over 7m sq ft available to let. From past experience, some 50% of this demand could sign for space in newly constructed, or newly refurbished London office space which will continue to present a substantial number of opportunities for 2020.