THE VIEW FROM the 39th floor of One Canada Square, the pyramid-capped central tower of London’s Canary Wharf financial centre, is one most bankers would envy. Looking across into other buildings, you can just about see into the corner offices of higher-ups at HSBC, Barclays and Citigroup. The bosses of lesser banks languish dozens of floors below. But this particular floor does not look like a home to financial Masters of the Universe. The trendy decor is reminiscent of a Facebook or Google office, and so are the staff: casually dressed 20- and 30-somethings cluster around MacBooks perched on the tables of a free café. The meeting rooms are whimsically known as “sandboxes”, and a bell rings daily at 3pm to invite everyone to help themselves to a freshly baked cookie.
Level39, as it is modishly known, is a startup “accelerator” whose members are mostly fintech companies. In subsidised digs—shoebox offices start at £1,700 a month, hot desks at £325—dozens of small teams work feverishly to become the next Square, Stripe or Lending Club. There are now so many of them that floors 24 and 42 have also recently been turned over to the scheme, set up two...
from The Economist: Special report http://ift.tt/1FRIrIu
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