The district began being marketed and developed in succession to the Broomielaw Project pioneered by the Scottish Development Agency in the late 1980s. A public-privatefinancial district in Glasgow, Scotland; attracting inward investment for leading international financial services companies and a re-location option for existing Glasgow-based companies, seeking to expand their operations. Today, it is a major hub in Glasgow for international business, as well as a major contributor to the Economy of Scotland. Notable tenants include Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Barclays.[3]
The district is over 3 million sq ft of office space which has been developed at the district since the start of the project in 2001.[4] The separate marketing of the area has now ended, in 2023, and city promotion is part of InvestGlasgow.[5] headquartered in Glasgow City Council.
History
The long-term decline of the old harbour area of Glasgow and streets off Broomielaw left largely-vacated premises and former bonded warehouses now loosely connected to Glasgow's traditional core business district centred on Blythswood Hill at the western end of the city centre.[6]
Planning led by Scottish Enterprise, as successors to the Scottish Development Agency, and Glasgow City Council has helped create space for 28,000 employees, this measure being recognised as vital to the city's economic fortunes. In order to develop a fully serviced financial services district and its long term potential, significant investment was granted in order to create the "right environment".[7]
When first opened in 2001, the International Financial Services District covered roughly one square kilometre between St Vincent Street and the River Clyde in Glasgow. It is credited as becoming "the catalyst for rengerating the Broomielaw and the west city centre area". Following a period of substantial and successful growth since opening, the International Financial Services District has expanded to the north, east and west in order to meet demand for office space within the district. Its growth has saw the city centre of Glasgow as well as the district itself become the "brand for Glasgow's financial services community".[8]
A further expansion in excess of 3 million sq ft of development has been developed at the International Financial Services District site since it initially opened in 2001.[9]
Financial and economic role
Acknowledge by the Experian annual retail vitality index, Glasgow is the Best UK retail centre outside of London. The district has an "assisted area" status, whereby it is eligible for the Regional Selective Assistance grant in order to enhance investment in capital or in job creation. The International Financial Services District is a major employment location for some of the cities 30,000 employees within the financial sector.[10]
No official boundary of the IFSD exists; originally it referred to the approximately 1 square kilometre area of the city centre bounded by the M8 motorway to the west, the River Clyde the south, Hope Street to the east, and Bothwell Street to the north - also parts of Blythswood Hill, and the south eastern fringe of Anderston. This has given rise to the area's nicknames in the popular press: the Square Kilometre (in reference to the "square mile" of the City of London), and more the popular and widely used Wall Street On Clyde.[12]
As originally anticipated, the district extended onto the south bank of the Clyde following the regeneration of Bridge Wharf and construction of the Buchanan Wharf complex in Tradeston.
The IFSD is connected with two Glasgow Subway stations. The Glasgow Subway the world's third oldest underground metro railway in the world. The two stations that cover the IFSD are:
The Tradeston Bridge, completed in 2009, allows access by foot or bicycle over the Clyde between the IFSD and the Tradeston district, a feature which was previously lacking from the area requiring pedestrians to make an 800 metres (875 yd) detour via the George V Bridge to reach the same point.
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