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Are there enough bars, restaurants and clubs in the City to keep Don Draper from "Mad Men" happy?
We will never know, partly because he was a fictional character. But a subtle shift occurred this week when one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, McCann Worldgroup, moved its main London HQ from Fitzrovia to Broadgate, taking 148K SF at British Land’s 135 Bishopsgate.
Broadgate was once the heart of the financial services world, and advertising agencies would once not have been caught dead outside of the West End, or at the very least Shoreditch.
“Even five years ago you couldn’t contemplate an ad agency in the City. Add Crossrail, amenity, talent and then you get this,” AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets Head of Leasing James Goldsmith said on Twitter.
As well as its head office, McCann is consolidating 11 of the different agencies it owns into one office.
The deal is a coup for Broadgate owners British Land and GIC, which have been working to reposition the 4.7M SF estate as a hub for financial and tech firms.
“Alongside TP ICAP’s decision to remain at the campus and Mimecast’s take-up of additional space at 1 Finsbury Ave., McCann Worldgroup UK’s move to Broadgate is a firm endorsement of the vibrant campus environment we are creating here for all types of occupier,” British Land Head of Offices Tim Roberts said. “[Broadgate offers] high-quality workspaces in a terrific location, surrounded by some of London’s best talent and with an eclectic choice of places to spend time throughout the day and into the evening.”
In "Mad Men," McCann bought fictional agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, but Draper himself ends up going on a personal odyssey across rural America to find himself. Maybe if McCann had better office space that might not have happened.
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