Wood Wharf is the latest chapter in the transformation of the historic West India Docks. Once part of the world's busiest port during the 1800s, it now welcomes 120,000 office workers every day. The docks closed in 1980, and over the past 30 years, the district has become one of Europe’s largest centres for finance, business and tech, with more than 16 million sq ft of office space.
“Our vision is to inspire positive impact by creating places that are healthy, thriving, sustainable and future-ready.”
Sir George Iacobescu CBE
Chairman and CEO
at Canary Wharf Group plc
The work we do is ultimately about people, and the spaces in which we live and work. We're committed to working in close collaboration with the local community at every stage, striving to ensure our developments lead to a positive economic impact for residents, businesses and their employees.
For example, we partner with innovative programmes such as the 'Ready for Work' scheme and the 'Women’s Project' that coordinate valuable work experience for people who have been homeless or out of work for a long time. We're also involved in mentoring programmes, interview training and CV workshops aimed at giving local students the tools they need to find work. These programmes have been commended with an honorary alumni award to acknowledge the number of work experience placements we have offered within our organisation.
Wood Wharf will be a multi-billion pound development and is expected to generate £2bn gross value from new jobs, add £199m into the local small business economy and generate 20,000 new jobs.