The International Financial Services District (IFSD) (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: ''Sgìre Seirbheisean Ionmhais Eadar-nàiseanta'') is a public-private

financial district A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. Based at

Scottish Enterprise Scottish Enterprise is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business. The body covers the eastern and central parts of Scotland whilst similar ...

, the £1 billion venture aims to create an attractive

inward investment Inward investment is the injection of money from an external source into a region, in order to purchase capital goods for a branch of a corporation to locate or develop its presence in the region. Foreign sources, such as transnational corporatio ...

location for leading international financial services companies and a re-location option for existing Glasgow-based companies, seeking to expand their operations. The district offers over 3 million sq ft of top quality Grade A office space which has been developed at the district since the development of the project in 2001. Major tenants of the International Financial Services District include

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...

and

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

History

Prior to the launch of the IFSD in 2001, the long-term decline of the old Port of Glasgow and its associated wharves and warehousing had resulted in a neglected infrastructure in Glasgow's city centre area fronting the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

, otherwise known as the

Broomielaw Broomielaw is a major thoroughfare in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It runs adjacent to the River Clyde, on its north bank and forms the southern, waterside boundary of the city's International Financial Services District. History Named after ...

. The result was a small number of isolated modern offices, standing adjacent to derelict land and vacant dilapidated buildings, loosely connected to Glasgow's traditional core business district centred on

Blythswood Square Blythswood Square is the Georgian square on Blythswood Hill in the heart of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. The square is part of the 'Magnificent New Town of Blythswood' built in the 1800s on the rising empty ground west of a very new Buchana ...

at the western end of the city centre. Planning led by

and

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

, aimed to create a new, dynamic focus for the area’s regeneration, through the establishment of the IFSD. This was an important development of Glasgow’s financial services sector, which, with 28,000 employees, was recognised as vital to the city’s economic fortunes. In order to develop a fully serviced financial services district and exploit its long term potential, significant investment was required to create the right environment.

Definition

No official boundary of the IFSD exists; notionally the term refers to the approximately 1 square

kilometre The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is now the measurement unit used for ex ...

area of the city centre bounded by the M8 motorway to the west, the

the south, Hope Street to the east, and

Sauchiehall Street Sauchiehall Street () is one of the main shopping streets in the Glasgow city centre, city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, Glasgow, Argyle Street. Although commonly associated with the city centre, Sau ...

to the north - taking in most of

Blythswood Hill Blythswood Hill, crowned by the elegance of Blythswood Square, is the wealthiest part of central Glasgow, Scotland. It extends from the west edge of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, Charing Cross, Sauchiehall Street ...

, the south eastern fringe of

Anderston Anderston ( sco, Anderstoun, gd, Baile Aindrea) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th ce ...

and part of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

. 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 The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

), and more the popular and widely used ''Wall Street On Clyde''.

Economic Impact

A constant stream of new buildings has appeared in the IFSD since 2001, with more in the pipeline. The Aurora building in the IFSD for example has won several UK wide awards as large scale speculative office building.

Buildings & Notable Residents

NS5865 Office building on Waterloo Street

Buildings Under Construction

Transport

Railway

The IFSD is connected by five railway stations, with routes that reach regionally and nationally. * Anderston station *

Charing Cross station Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashfo ...

Glasgow Central station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Main Concourse at Glasgow Central Station.JPG , caption = The main concourse , borough = Glasgow, City of Glasgow , country ...

Glasgow Queen Street station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Queen Street railway station (geograph 6687389).jpg , caption = Main entrance in 2020 , borough = Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_positi ...

* Exhibition Centre station

Subway Rail

The IFSD is well connected with two

Glasgow Subway The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the fourth-oldest underground rail transit system in Europe after the London Underground, Liverpool's Mersey Railway and the Budapes ...

stations. The Glasgow Subway the world's third oldest underground metro railway in the world. The two stations that cover the IFSD are: * Buchanan Street Subway * St Enoch Subway

Road

The IFSD has links to the nearby M8 Motorway, which runs through Central Glasgow. The motorway connects the city with

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Glasgow Airport gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu , image = Glasgow Airport logo.svg , image-width = 200 , image2 = GlasgowAirportFromAir.jpg , image2-width = 250 , IATA = GLA , ICAO = EGPF , type = Public , owner = AGS Airports , hub = *easy ...

, Paisley,

Erskine Bridge The Erskine Bridge is a multi span cable-stayed box girder bridge spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The bridge connects West Dunbartonshire with Renfrewshire and can be used by all types of motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrian ...

and

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

Pedestrian

The Tradeston Bridge, completed in 2009, allows quick access by foot or bicycle over the Clyde between the IFSD and the

Tradeston Tradeston () is a small district in the Scottish city of Glasgow adjacent to the city centre on the south bank of the River Clyde. Geography Tradeston is bounded by the River Clyde to the north, the Glasgow to Paisley railway line to the so ...

district, a feature which was previously lacking from the area requiring pedestrians to make an detour via the George V Bridge to reach the same point.

References

* Glasgow IFSD (2010) Glasgow International Financial Services District, ''Leaflet''. * Glasgow IFSD (2010) Glasgow International Financial Service District, ''Website'', Available from: https://archive.today/20130505014554/http://www.ifsdglasgow.co.uk/Completed_Property.aspx.

External links

IFSD Website

Completed Buildings in Glasgow
{{Areas of Glasgow Economy of Glasgow Redevelopment projects in the United Kingdom Financial districts in the United Kingdom Central business districts in the United Kingdom Financial services in Scotland 2001 establishments in Scotland Public–private partnership Organisations supported by the Scottish Government