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Chapter 2

Finance and other services: Docklands

London’s Docklands, dominated by the towers of Canary Wharf, stand as a symbol of the role of financial services in the capital’s economy – a role called into question by the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. But Docklands also symbolizes past shifts in the structure of London’s economy. If such large shifts have occurred before, they can do so again. Financial services are not as dominant as many people imagine, and form only one aspect of London’s broader strength in services. This latest crisis does not spell doom for London’s service-focused economy.

The London docks were once the centre of the world’s physical trade. The centre of the globe’s largest empire saw all sorts of goods come through its docks, which spread downriver on both banks from the wharves by London Bridge. Five docks were opened in the early years of the twentieth century, with the final and largest dock, the King George V, completed as late as 1921. By the mid 1930s the docks were at their peak (Figure 2.1). More than 35 million tonnes of cargo passed through the docks each year, carried by 55,000 ship movements and served by more than 10,000 lighters. In all, some 100,000 men were dependent on the Port of London for employment, more than 30,000 of whom were employed by the port itself.

Figure 2.1. Historic photograph of Canary Wharf. Courtesy of the PLA Collection (Museum of London).

However, by the early 1980s, only fifty years later, the Port of London Authority employed only 3,000 people and almost all the docks had closed. A huge area of London appeared to be derelict. This cautionary tale is important to all industries that appear to be dominant, and reflects the rapidity with which change can take hold. The decline of the dock trade was down to a variety of factors, with complacency perhaps being a key one. The new technology of containerization, combined with larger ships, could not be supported in older docks, while the labour force strongly resisted any change. The wartime National Dock Labour Scheme effectively protected the right to be a docker and limited competition. Management failed to grasp this nettle and trade was diverted to newer ports. Much large-scale trade went to the Netherlands and Germany, with only smaller ships making the trip across the channel.

Regeneration efforts for Docklands started almost as soon as the docks closed, and the London Docklands Development Corporation (the major redevelopment body) was set up in 1981 by Michael Heseltine, then secretary of state for the environment, with the previous ten years having been spent on various planning discussions and debates. At this point, no one had a plan for the Docklands to become a major financial or business centre. The main options had been to develop housing of different sorts, with various mixes of commercial and industrial uses.