Graduate careers in Central London and the City

Central London and the City Central London is an area of about ten square miles north and south of the Thames and can be split into three main parts: the City, the West End and South Bank.

The City of London is the historic core around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation has grown. This geographically small district is often referred to simply as 'the City'. The term is also commonly used as shorthand for the UK's financial services industry, which is principally based here.
The South Bank refers to the area on the southern bank of the Thames near Waterloo station which houses a number of important cultural buildings and institutions, including the London Eye. The neighbourhood is split between the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.
The West End can be used to refer to the entertainment district around Leicester Square and Covent Garden, or to describe the shopping district centred on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street. It is also sometimes used to define the part of central London that lies to the west of the City. Find out more about graduate careers in the West End

There is no one official definition of central London. The label is used by official urban planning documents to refer collectively to the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Camden, Islington, Wandsworth, Lambeth, Southwark and the City of Westminster, omitting the City of London itself, which for historic reasons is not counted as one of London's 32 boroughs.

Southwark, in the heart of London, includes landmarks such as London Bridge, Southwark Cathedral, the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. Following a decade of regeneration its declining light industry and factories have been replaced by residential development, shops, restaurants and bars. It is also home to Borough Market, regarded by some as the UK's best quality food market.
Lambeth has the highest population density of the inner London boroughs. It also has high unemployment and crime rates. It includes both built-up urban areas such as Vauxhall and Brixton and the leafy suburbs of Gipsy Hill and West Dulwich.
Wandsworth includes popular residential areas such as Battersea, Putney and Southfields. Wandsworth itself has some of the most expensive housing in the capital, particularly along the riverfront.

Find out more about living and working in Kensington and Chelsea using the guide to graduate careers in West London, and read more about living and working in Camden and Islington in the guide to graduate careers in North London.

(Top)

In and around Central London and the City

An Oyster card is the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to get around London. It caps the amount you spend on any particular day to no more than the cost of a travelcard for the number of zones you travel in. You can also put a weekly or monthly travelcard onto your Oyster. Cycling is taking off in the capital now, with cycle-to-work schemes in place at many companies, and if you don't have too far to go walking can be a much better option than squeezing onto a crowded bus or tube.

You definitely won't be short of things to do in central London, quite apart from the the attractions that tourists from all over the world flood in to see year after year. There are galleries and museums too numerous to mention, with regularly changing exhibitions catering for a whole array of interests; world-class shopping; quirky markets and one-off shops; theatres, parks and gardens, sports venues... the list is endless.

Get off the tourist trail and away from the high street chains and there's a whole world of cafés, bars and restaurants waiting to be discovered. The capital is also host to various festivals and events all year round. Check out Time Out London for an up-to-date lowdown on arts, culture and going out in the capital. You can also subscribe to the magazine or sign up to have weekly newsletters delivered straight to your inbox.

(Top)

Drink at...

LAB, Soho: Small, stylish and popular with retro décor and an encyclopedic drinks menu. Choose from some 30 original concoctions or 50 classics mixed by LAB (London Academy of Bartending) school graduates and their colleagues.
Water Poet, Shoreditch: Bar, restaurant, pool parlour, a downstairs theatre and a suntrap of a beer garden, attracting City types during the week and market meanderers at the weekend. Choose between leather sofas, church pews, school chairs and old cinema seats in the somewhat dishevelled interior. Real ale and continental beers on tap, and a bar and BBQ menu, sharing platters and Sunday lunch all on offer. 'Witty in the City' comedy nights every Thursday.
Barrio North, Islington: Neighbourhood DJ bar that pays tribute to the vibe of Latin street culture from London to New York and Miami to Mexico. The décor includes a graffiti Wall of Fame and the venue showcases up-and-coming artists and urban poets. Sit back and relax with a bar snack and a beer or get down to the music.

(Top)

Dance at...

Fabric, Farringdon: Alongside three bars over two levels, you'll find three separate rooms with independent sound systems. A unique feature of the club is its vibrating floor in Room 1. House, electro, techno, hip hop, RnB or funk depending on the room and night. 24-hour drinking licence.
The Quad, Holborn: The Quad hosts London's biggest student night, regularly attracting crowds of more than 1,000. You'll find chart favourites, old school, RnB, Latino, cheese and disco played on three floors. Cheap bar prices, foam parties and live music too.
Electric Ballroom, Camden: Sin City is the Electric Ballroom's longest-running weekly rock and metal night, voted London's number one rock club by readers of Kerrang!. Fridays, except the first of every month, from 10.30 pm to 3.30 am. Two floors - level one for metal, hardcore, punk and rock and level two for old school metal and classic rock. Outdoor smoking area.

(Top)

Eat at...

Murano, Queen Street: This Mayfair-based, 40-seater addition to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire is run by one of his former trainees. Enjoy the high-end Italian cuisine, sculpted chandeliers and painted fresco panels. For a special occasion you can book the raised private dining area which overlooks the kitchen.
Hawksmoor, Commercial Street: Quality sirloins, ribeyes and T-bones are chargrilled precisely to order. There are also racks of lamb, pork chops and chicken, along with meat-free alternatives. Fries are hand-cut, served in glasses; vegetables are offered in tiny amounts, so as not to distract you from the meat.
Rocket, Mayfair: Relaxed yet lively, smart but not snobby, and reasonably priced. Pizzas are good, with thin crusts and unusual toppings. There are also alternative mains, enormous salads and delicious desserts if you've still got room.

(Top)

Shop at...

Camden Market, Camden: Join the 100,000 browsers who descend upon Camden every weekend to check out the largest street market in the UK. It's really a collection of six separate markets, each with its own distinct and unique style. You can buy fruit and veg, clothes, posters, arts and crafts, music and antiques.
Knightsbridge: If you're feeling flush, head over to London's luxurious shopping quarter, known for its designer boutiques, exclusive restaurants and staggering house prices. Wander round Harrods (which is connected to the tube station by an underground tunnel) and Harvey Nichols, and browse stores dedicated to labels such as Cartier, Jimmy Choo and Chanel.
Terra Plana, Covent Garden: Ethical trader Terra Plana produces fashionable shoes from recycled materials and vegetable-tanned, chrome-free leathers - kinder to the environment and to factory workers.

(Top)

The cost of living in Central London and the City

London is currently the third most expensive city in the world, after Moscow and Tokyo, according to Mercer's 2008 Cost of Living Survey. The survey takes into account the cost of renting a flat and buying a daily cup of coffee as well as entertainment, clothing and food costs in order to gauge which cities are most expensive for expatriates to settle in. Ever-climbing property prices filtering through to the rental market, combined with the world's most expensive transport system, have propelled London's rise up the list in recent years.

Rental costs tend to be high throughout central London, averaging from £100-£150 per week for a room in a shared house. If you want your own flat you should be prepared to pay upwards of £200 per week. The most expensive boroughs are Kensington and Chelsea, the City of Westminster and the City of London. Prices vary depending on the area, quality of accommodation and number of people sharing etc. Most rental costs do not include bills.

You can find a letting or estate agent in the area using UpMyStreet. Alternatively, look for an agent that belongs to NALS (the National Approved Letting Scheme). An agent will probably charge a fee for finding you a property (typically about a week’s rent) but, on the upside, you may be less likely to have problems with the landlord and there should be a proper tenancy agreement.

The Evening Standard carries some adverts for property across the capital every day and there are more in the Homes & Property supplement, free with the newspaper on Wednesdays.
Check the accommodation listings in Loot. The paper version of Loot is published five times a week.
There is a section in the London issue of The Guide (a free supplement with The Guardian newspaper on Saturdays) called Capital Flatshare. Each week this lists 250 rooms for rent in flats or houses in the London area.
Another popular source of accommodation adverts in London is Gumtree. Craigslist also includes some adverts.

(Top)

Getting work in Central London and the City

Many graduate schemes have opportunities in central London, mostly in the financial and business hub of the City: numerous accountancy firms, management consultants, merchant bankers and lawyers are based in the area and there are also plenty of arts, media and public sector organisations.

Internet jobsites are a great place to start. An internet search should also bring up plenty of agencies in your sector of interest. For general recruitment and office administration see Manpower, Reed, Crone Corkhill or Office Angels, for example.
Pick up free copies of Metro and TNT magazine or check the Evening Standard and the national dailies. Your local library should stock a range of papers that you can browse for free.

If you already know which sector interests you, go to the websites of relevant companies and check out the opportunities for graduates and young professionals. Here are a few employers with operations in London to get you started. (Note: these companies may not be currently recruiting. Their names have been provided as a guideline to the type of work available and areas to look in.)

PricewaterhouseCoopers: (accounting, audit, consulting, financial advisory and tax, various locations, London) One of the world's largest professional services firms and one of the Big 4 auditors, along with KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte.
Linklaters: (legal, London) One of the Big 4 law firms alongside Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and Freshfields. Global commercial law firm with 26 offices in 19 countries, advising the world's leading companies, banks and institutions.
Transport for London: (logistics and transport, engineering, quantity surveying and building surveying, central London) Tfl oversees the capital's transport network, from buses, roads and the Tube to taxis, trains, cycle paths and the river. It is responsible for making transport cleaner, safer, more efficient and more accessible, as well as for planning for the future and for the Olympics.
Civil Service: (economics, statistics, actuarial, operational research analysis, law, London) One of the UK's largest employers: there are 173 government departments and agencies employing nearly half a million people. The Fast Stream is a graduate entry route for senior Civil Service careers.
Teach First: (teaching, leadership development, London) An independent charity founded to encourage top graduates to teach for at least two years in challenging secondary schools.
HarperCollins: (publishing, London) One of the world's foremost English-language publishers, with a wide and varied list of award-winning international and best-selling authors and reference material. Publishes more than 1,200 books a year in the UK and employs around 1,000 people in London, Glasgow and Cheltenham.

(Top)