Best spots to work from your laptop in London

The number of freelancers and self-employed workers in London is increasing daily. This means the traditional idea of office space is slowly disbanding and a new culture of flexible working space is evolving rapidly. Let’s face it, all you really need is your laptop, wifi, and copious amounts of caffeine. Here we look at the top 7 non-office spots in London to get your head down and graft.
 

 

Where can I work in Central London?

Soho Theatre / https://sohotheatre.com / £-££

A trendy theatre in the heart of Soho with good wifi, tables and booths. Most people in there during the day are working or having meetings (and you might overhear some theatre gossip). Serves pizza and paninis. 

Foyles / https://leafi.co.uk/foyles  / £££

The café upstairs has some nice tables for working, with pretty good wifi. Get there early as it gets busy! Also has the option of browsing the books when you need a break. 

Picturehouse Central / https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/picturehouse-central / ££

A seven-screen cinema with two large café spaces. Good selection of cakes! Can get quite busy due to the central location. 

Timberyard / https://www.tyuk.com / £££

Has a young professional vibe, good wifi and a lot of space to work (although it does get busy). Food and drink is quite pricey, but it isn’t hard to just get one and stay for hours. 

Yumchaa / https://yumchaa.com / ££ 

Open until 8pm which is quite rare for a café in central London! Has a cosy downstairs spot and they don’t mind you hanging around for a while. Also got a fantastic selection of teas, if that’s your sort of thing.

Ask for Janice / https://askforjanice.co.uk / ££

Very work friendly, with really good wifi. Healthy food and fabulous coffee, as well as a great gin and beer selection if you need an extra push. 

 

Where can I work in North London?

Zippola /  https://www.facebook.com/hellozippola / £

Vintage Italian café adored by the locals, which lets you study as long as you want! Also do great coffee, gelato and cakes to give you a sugar boost when you need it. 

British Library / https://www.bl.uk /  ££

Very good wifi, can get quite busy with students but if you get a spot it’s great! You can also become a member for free and get access to the reading rooms, which have a lot more space. Two cafes with good food as well (but you can’t take it to the library bit).

Bespoke Café / https://www.facebook.com/bespoke.Cafe / ££

Lovely independent café that is not too expensive, and doesn’t get too busy. Not very many charging points! 

Finsbury Library / https://www.islington.gov.uk/libraries-arts-and-heritage/libraries/your-local-libraries/finsbury-library

Plenty of plug sockets and USB chargers, with very good wifi. Fab if you want somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed!

 

Where can I work in South London?

The Old Nuns Head / https://www.theoldnunshead.co.uk / £

Calls itself ‘the Ryan Gosling of pubs’, which kinda says it all.  Usually fine to spend loads of time working there if it’s not massively busy (avoid quiz night on Thursday 8pm!). There are sockets, and a function room upstairs which you can work in. Staff are super friendly and very supportive of arts! 

Lumberjack / https://wearelumberjack.co.uk / ££

Good wifi. Better cakes. Fairly small but filled with arty types, which always makes for entertaining eavesdropping. Get there early to guarantee a table!

Southbank National Theatre / https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk / ££

A popular spot for working during the day, but try and avoid days when there are matinee performances as they might ask you to move during lunch hour! Also has tables outside for sunny days (and they still get wifi!). 

Black Lab / http://blacklabcoffee.com / ££

Really good wifi and coffee. Good tables for working on and a good amount of power sockets. Lovely staff as well! 

 

Where can I work in East London? 

Ace Hotel Shoreditch / https://www.acehotel.com/london  / ££-£££

The lobby of this Hotel has been devised as a social hub for those wanting to work on laptops or hold meetings. Different zones separated to create the idea of ‘rooms’ mean that you can have some privacy in a larger space. But the main thing that makes this place ideal for working is the addition of a bar – for when the end of the day hits

Barbican / https://www.barbican.org.uk / £-££

The Barbican centre is huge and offers a multitude of different spaces in which to work. The wifi is fast and reliable and no-one is going to look at you weirdly if you stay there all day – you don’t even have to splash out on a coffee. You could even go the whole hog and actually work in the on-site library!

Footnote / http://www.footnote.london / ££ 

Very good wifi and really lovely big windows with plug sockets near them. Can get busy at lunch so they might ask you to share a table, so if you aren’t up for that just avoid those busy hours! 

Google campus / https://www.campus.co/london 

Ever wanted to imagine you worked at Google? Well now you can! Sign up online for free to use the Google Campus London café as a refuge to work and network in. The atmosphere is complimented by events hosted every week to inspire budding entrepreneurs.

 

Where can I work in West London? 

Press Room / http://www.pressroomcoffee.co.uk  / ££

Really friendly staff with good wifi. A massive range of tea as well as sandwiches, wraps and melts on offer! 

Wayne’s Coffee / http://www.pressroomcoffee.co.uk / £-££

Very lovely staff who are not bothered about people working there. Good selection of snacks and occasionally even have raw vegan cakes! Also if the wifi isn’t working, you can get onto the hotel from next door’s network. 

Battersea Arts Centre / https://www.bac.org.uk / £

Plenty of plug sockets and good wifi. Really friendly and good atmosphere, although can get busy around performances.

 

Want to be one of those people working in London? BrighterBox has new graduate vacancies on its site all the time. Search ‘BrighterBox jobs’.