Lloyd's Register in London

This is the story of Lloyd’s Register and its offices in the City of London.

We start with its origin as a classification society in a London coffee house in 1760. As the organisation grew, spreading around the world and into new business sectors, its premises in London followed the varying fortunes of the organisation.

In the late 19th century the society expressed its confidence through the development of a new head office at 71 Fenchurch Street, an impressive Italianate palace designed by Thomas Collcutt. At the end of the 20th century, the organisation had outstripped the jumble of office buildings by then attached to the Collcutt building. To replace them the organisation commissioned an exciting modern building designed by the renowned Richard Rogers Partnership and completed in 2000.

Our tour ends with a look at the history of the site on Fenchurch Street before Lloyd’s Register, starting with the first Roman settlement, uncovered when work began on the new building.