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Anyone who’s been a freelancer will know that finding the perfect spot to set up your portable workstation can sometimes be a challenge. As a writer without a designated desk, I’m always on the lookout for laptop-friendly places with reliable Wi-Fi, accessible plug sockets, chairs with a back (who wants to hunch on a stool all day?!), strong coffee and staff who won’t throw you out after half an hour. So after much personal research, here are my favourite freelancing spots in the city: some are official workspaces which you have to be a member to use, the others are cafés where you’ll need to order enough food and drinks to pay your way (and be sensitive about table-hogging). Go forth and work – and if you see me out and about, please let me have the seat next to the plug socket.
Official workspaces
WEWORK
Wework is the Ikea of workspaces: functional, well-designed, a bit soulless and absolutely everywhere. With 47 buildings across London, it’s the city’s biggest occupier of office space, meaning that whichever area you want to work in, chances are there’s a Wework just around the corner. Each one attracts a slightly different clientele – I worked in the London Fields one, which had a great rooftop for sunny days. Solo freelancers can opt for a fixed desk or just grab a seat in the hotdesking spaces and enjoy the weekly talks, classes and all the roaming office dogs. It’s £200 per month for a hot-desk membership for one person.
Insider tip: Each office has a selection of free booze that starts flowing at midday – although you’re now limited to four glasses per person so you can’t get totally smashed.
Address: Various locations
Telephone: +44 20 3695 7895
Website: wework.com
Cost of a flat white: Free from the machines on each floor
SECOND HOME
These independent workspaces are the opposite of Wework – each one is designed by Spanish architect Selgascano to be totally unique, and each is a riot of colour, plants and quirky design features. There are sites in Spitalfields, Holland Park, London Fields and Clerkenwell, and the whole vibe is about creating a friendly community of start-ups and interesting businesses, so they’ll go out of their way to introduce you to other people in the building who you can collaborate with. There’s yoga and meditation, lunchtime talks, onsite cafés, a lively evening cultural programme and lots of quiet, leafy, sunny spots to work in.
Insider tip: If you’re at the Spitalfields one, take a break and pop across the road to the brilliant Second Home bookshop, Libreria, where the books are organised by subject.
Address: Second Home Spitalfields, 68 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
Telephone: +44 20 3818 3240
Website: secondhome.io
Cost of a flat white: There’s free tea and coffee for members but a flat white in the café is £2.50SOHO WORKS
Many people buy a Soho House membership instead of renting a workspace but they soon find that the members’ club isn’t actually the ideal spot to work in: there are only a few tables that double up as desks so you often end up slumped on a sofa; it can get very busy and loud; and there are quite a number of laptop-free zones. If you want the stylish comforts of Soho House but with a chair that will actually support your spine, opt for a Soho Works membership instead. It’s just one floor below Shoreditch House and you’ll actually get some work done. Non-members of Soho House can join from £225 per month.
Insider tip: There’s a great events programme for Soho Works members and often they get more exciting speakers than Soho House.
Address: Soho Works, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ
Telephone: +44 20 3841 7600
Website: sohoworks.com
Cost of a flat white: £2The best co-working spaces in Central London
FOYLES
If you’re in need of a spot in central London to get your head down for a few hours, pop up to the café on the fifth floor of the Charing Cross Road flagship store and find a seat among the students, tourists and bookworms. The Wi-Fi isn’t that strong but the coffee will propel you through. And if you need to do any research do your browsing beforehand, as you can bring books into the café without buying them first – just be careful not to spill any coffee on them.
Insider tip: It can get very busy and staff do give you odd looks if you linger too long so best for shorter stops.
Address: Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DT
Telephone: +44 20 7437 5660
Website: foyles.co.uk
Cost of a flat white: £2.95TIMBERYARD
This central London café calls itself a ‘workspace powered by purchases’: laptops are actively encouraged here as long as you keep yourself lubricated with the tea and coffee that pays for the fast Wi-Fi and bounty of plug sockets. If you need somewhere to have a private meeting there are rooms downstairs, but if you’re just in to do some solo work, aim to get a seat upstairs as I find it can get a bit gloomy in the basement.
Insider tip: Order a blondie with your coffee – you won’t regret it.
Address: Timberyard, 7 Upper St Martin’s Lane, London WC2H 9DL
Telephone: No telephone number
Website: tyuk.com
Cost of a flat white: £3
THE HOXTON
The Hoxton in Holborn is one of my favourite places for meetings. It’s full of stylish mid-century sofas and attentive waiters, and you easily forget you’re in the lobby of a hotel as it’s also packed with people using it as their office for the day. Have breakfast, lunch or dinner in a booth in Hubbard & Bell restaurant at the back or just beaver away in an armchair for a few hours drinking expensive but delicious juices. I always try to get a seat by the window but mainly because I like getting distracted by people-watching.
Insider tip: If you need a bigger room for a meeting or event, they have an ‘apartment’ of six rooms of different sizes at the back.
Address: The Hoxton Holborn, 199–206 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BD
Telephone: +44 20 7661 3000
Website: thehoxton.com
Cost of a flat white: £3ROSE BAKERY
Nestled amongst the rails of Comme de Garçons garms on the third floor of high fashion concept store Dover Street Market, you’ll find the wonderful Rose Bakery. A stylish oasis in the middle of the West End, this calm cafe does lovely light lunch options and memorable cakes. It’s the perfect place for a productive pitstop. To make sure you actually get some work done, take the lift straight up otherwise you can easily spend a few hours browsing the bold artful displays and selection of designer treats.
Insider tip: There’s a great selection of magazines on each table which prove a pleasant distraction.
Address: Rose Bakery, 18-22 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4DG,
Telephone: +44 20 8629 0354
Website: london.doverstreetmarket.com
Cost of a flat white: £2.75
NORDIC BAKERY
If you’re in need of a carb and sugar hit, a strong coffee and some free Wi-Fi in Soho, make a beeline for the Nordic Bakery. Surrounded by people from nearby advertising agencies having meetings, you can indulge in one of the café’s ginormous cinnamon buns and enjoy the Scandi interiors as you beaver away for a few hours until the stylish but hard wooden chairs get uncomfortable.
Insider tip: The original branch is in Soho but there’s now a second in Covent Garden if you’re over that way.
Address: Nordic Bakery, 14A Golden Square, London W1F 9JG
Telephone: +44 20 7734 7837
Website: nordicbakery.com
Cost of a flat white: £3PICTUREHOUSE CENTRAL
Cinemas in central London can be an excellent space to get a few hours of solid work done during the day. You could easily walk past Picturehouse Central, hidden just off the mania of Piccadilly Circus, but you’d be missing its spacious and relatively quiet ground-floor café. There’s free Wi-Fi, plenty of tables and a selection of snacks to fuel your brain. If it’s too busy, head up Shaftesbury Avenue and see if you can bag a seat in the Curzon Soho café instead.
Insider tip: Film fans who have Picturehouse membership can go straight up to the more swanky member’s bar and roof terrace.
Address: Picturehouse Central, Piccadilly, London W1D 7DH
Telephone: +44 871 902 5747
Website: picturehouses.com
Cost of a flat white: £3.20
SOHO THEATRE BAR
If you want to work somewhere that feels alive with creativity, the Soho Theatre Bar is the place to be. By day, the spacious Dean Street café bar is full of people having exciting-sounding meetings (yes, I like to eavesdrop) and other creative types hammering at their keyboards. There are cosy booths with padded red-leather seats, bar seats and smaller tables all within easy reach of a plug. And who knows, you could be sharing a table with the person writing the next Fleabag.
Insider tip: You can guarantee a booth by calling ahead to reserve.
Address: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Telephone: +44 20 7478 0140
Website: sohotheatre.com
Cost of a flat white: Flat white: £3.10The best co-working spaces in East London
MARE STREET MARKET
This Hackney hotspot is an ideal place to set up camp for a good day’s work as you can get breakfast, lunch and snacks without leaving the building – and then once 6pm hits, you can start on the cocktail list. The long communal tables and benches are great for solo working or having meetings, although it’s easy to get distracted by the lure of the onsite stores, including Stranger Than Paradise record shop.
Insider tip: The Wi-Fi reaches outside to the terrace so you can work alfresco on sunny days.
Address: Mare Street Market, 117 Mare Street, London E8 4RU
Telephone: +44 20 3745 2470
Website: marestreetmarket.com
Cost of a flat white: £2.60
BARBICAN CENTRE
Similarly to the Southbank Centre, the brilliantly brutalist Barbican has free Wi-Fi in all its communal areas and lots of chairs (although not that many tables). There’s a café in the main foyer for all your caffeine needs and if it’s sunny head out to the waterside (and keep your fingers crossed the Wi-Fi reaches). For a change of scene, pop across the road to the Beech Street Cafe & Bar in the Barbican Cinema, which has always been blissfully quiet whenever I’ve been there.
Insider tip: There’s a cute Martini bar tucked away on the mezzanine and between 5pm and 6pm you can get two martinis for £12 – perfect for celebrating the end of a productive day!
Address: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Telephone: +44 20 7638 8891
Website: barbican.org.uk
Cost of a flat white: £2.80
ACE HOTEL AND HOI POLLOI
During the day the lobby of the Ace is a freelancers’ playground full of cool kids engrossed in their sticker-covered MacBook Pros. Bulldog Edition café provides the suitably strong coffee, but once evening hits it quickly turns into a vibrant bar with a DJ (not ideal if you’re trying to hit a deadline!). When you’re feeling peckish, head next door to Hoi Polloi, grab a plush booth, order some food and get comfy for the afternoon before dinner service hits.
Insider tip: If you want a highly sought-after seat on the large communal table in the lobby, get there early.
Address: Ace Hotel, 100 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JQ
Telephone: +44 20 7613 9800
Website: acehotel.com
Cost of a flat white: £3
GOOD & PROPER TEA CO
This cute little café is a surprisingly serene spot on bustling Leather Lane market. As the name suggests, tea is the star here and they have an impressive selection that you can drink your way through as you work. The staff are lovely, there are plug sockets under a lot of tables and their homemade sourdough crumpets are wonderful. It can get quite busy at lunchtimes though so be careful not to be a table hog.
Insider tip: Be sure to order their monthly crumpet collaboration special.
Address: Good & Proper Tea Co, 96A Leather Lane, London EC1N 7TX
Telephone: No telephone number
Website: goodandpropertea.com
Cost of a flat white: It’s £3.10 for a filter coffee but it’s all about tea here – a matcha latte is £3.50
OZONE COFFEE ROASTERS
This New Zealand roastery and café just off Old Street roundabout knows a thing or two about great coffee and delicious food. There are cute booths at the back if you want to have a meeting and eat something (the brunch dishes are excellent) or if you’re working solo opt for a stool at the bar at the front. Be warned: it gets incredibly busy on the weekends so it’s best avoided if you want a peaceful Saturday work session.
Insider tip: Order the cornbread with chilli butter and you can thank me later.
Address: Ozone Coffee, 11 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4AQ
Telephone: +44 20 7490 1039
Website: ozonecoffee.co.uk
Cost of a flat white: £3The best co-working spaces in South London
SOUTHBANK CENTRE
The Southbank Centre is a freelancer’s haven and I often spend a day bouncing between the various cafés and clusters of chairs. There’s Wi-Fi throughout the Royal Festival Hall but I tend to head straight upstairs to level 5 to get a sunny spot near the balcony. The comfy chairs up here are like gold dust so you might have to hover before one becomes free. Alternatively, head next door to the newly refurbished Queen Elizabeth Hall which is usually much quieter and has some great little windowside stools with convenient plug points.
Insider tip: If you can’t find a suitable spot at the Southbank Centre, head downstream to the BFI where there are also a couple of nice cafés and bars to work in.
Address: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
Telephone: +44 20 3879 9555
Website: southbankcentre.co.uk
Cost of a flat white: £2.40
CANOVA HALL
There are some pubs that you wouldn’t want to step into during daylight hours – this airy and plant-filled Brixton watering hole isn’t one of them. During the day, Canova Hall doubles up as a workspace from 8am until 5pm with fast Wi-Fi, bottomless coffee and delicious pizzas cooked in their wood oven. Freelancers can buy a day (£10), weekly (£25) or monthly (£50) pass but be sure to get there early to nab a table with a comfy chair.
Insider tip: There’s a sister pub in east London called Martello Hall, which is also a workspace during the day.
Address: Canova Hall, 250 Ferndale Road, Brixton, London SW9 8BQ
Telephone: +44 20 7733 8356
Website: canovahall.com
Cost of a flat white: Bottomless flat whites are included in your hotdesking passIn order to see this embed, you must give consent to Social Media cookies. Open my cookie preferences.
The best co-working spaces in North London
WELLCOME COLLECTION
As well as playing host to some of London’s best free exhibitions, the Wellcome Collection is also an excellent free place to work. If you need refreshments, the large café in the foyer is bright and buzzing but usually not too busy. For a more quiet space to concentrate, head up the spiral staircase to the grand Reading Room, where you can chill on a sofa or find a solitary corner surrounded by medicinal artefacts. Those in search of a totally uninterrupted working session just need to bring some photo ID and proof of address for a day’s library membership.
Insider tip: You’re not allowed to use the plug sockets in the Reading Room so make sure your computer is fully charged before you go.
Address: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE
Telephone: +44 20 7611 2222
Website: wellcomecollection.org
Cost of a flat white: £2.90
ST PAUL ISLINGTON
This sunny café just off Highbury Corner is a magnet for local mums but it can still accommodate laptop warriors too. There’s a nice selection of sandwiches and cakes, friendly service, a mellow playlist, strong Wi-Fi and plugs near the window seats. Tables are rather close together so you might get an earful of your neighbour’s business but generally it’s a good place to concentrate for a few hours.
Insider tip: St Paul is a laptop-free zone on weekends so best to work elsewhere.
Address: St Paul Islington, 274b St Pauls Road, London, N1 2LJ
Telephone: +44 20 7683 9993
Website: stpaulislington.com
Cost of a flat white: £2.90The best co-working spaces in West London
LIBRARY BAR AT THE BUSH THEATRE
You may be more familiar with it for pre-show drinks but the Bush Theatre’s quaint Library Bar is also a welcome workspace should you find yourself in Shepherd’s Bush. There are plenty of plug sockets, a solid selection of snacks and with the big shelves full of old books, you instantly feel more studious. Grab a cosy corner to get your head down or find a table on the outdoor terrace on sunnier days.
Insider tip: There are shelves full of play texts if you want to take a break and get some thespian inspiration.
Address: Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, London W12 8LJ
Telephone: +44 20 8743 3584
Website: bushtheatre.co.uk
Cost of a flat white: £2.80ONE MORE TO TRY
ANDCO
If you want to guarantee you’ll always have a seat (and not be hassled by the waiter to move once your coffee goes cold), you can book a desk at one of more than 70 hotels, bars, pubs, cafés and restaurants across London (such as Sophie’s Soho, The Islington Townhouse, The Detox Kitchen and The Lillie Langtry) by signing up to AndCo for £20 a month.
Address: Various sites
Telephone: No telephone number
Website: andco.life
Cost of a flat white: Location dependentScroll down to see more pictures of our favourite co-working spaces…
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Ace Hotel
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