The 10 Best Places To Work In London as A Freelancer

As a freelancer, you need to be getting up and ready for the day just as you would if you had a meeting with the team in the office at 8am. Don’t work from home. Getting out the house and finding somewhere that’s a nice space with plenty of working areas, not too noisy, a great menu, good lighting, an abundance of plugs and strong, free WIFI. Ticking all these boxes is like finding the holy grail. But don’t worry, we’ve done the research so you don’t have to.

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Grind. Dotted around London.

Opening hours: Vary but generally 7.30am - Midnight

Grind

Grind is a clever group of six café-bars and three restaurants across London. The coffee is other-worldly. Wake up well as they roast it all on their site in Shoreditch. Go for breakfast, enjoy lunch, have dinner then finish your day off with one of their infamous espresso martinis. All in a Grind day's work.

Peace and quiet in the British Library

The British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 6DB
Opening hours: 9.30am – 8pm

British Library

The British Library in Kings Cross has a great way of making you feel like you’re studying at Oxford or Cambridge which in turn, I’m sure makes work even better!

A fair few people have cottoned onto this now though so get there early if you want to be in with a chance of settling into one of the comfy armchairs for the day, complete with small table and plug. You can also register to use one of their complimentary reading rooms if you need to get some peace and quiet. In addition, you won’t be short of food options. King’s Cross is on the food map these days!

Seven Dials, 7 Upper St Martin's Lane, Seven Dials, WC2H 9DL or Soho, 4 Noel Street, W1F 8GB

Opening hours: 8am – 6pm weekdays

Timberyard

Voted Europe's best independent coffee shop, Timberyard in Soho and Seven Dials offers dynamic, public and private workspaces. Together with their speciality tea and coffee you’re in for a treat. Unlike your average coffee shop, they provide everything you could need and want from an office to make your day that little bit easier. Stay there as long as you like - they actively encourage you to do so. Sit there all day with fellow freelancers guilt free!

BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, SE1 8XT

Opening hours: 9.45am – 11pm daily

BFI Southbank

Most of us when we think of BFI Southbank think of the very best in cinema. You can also hire spaces out though for meetings. Just want to work on your own for the day? Get there early and bag one of the big tables. Word of warning, the chairs are super low so you do feel like you’ve slightly regressed back to primary school. With great views and cafés, restaurants in their droves a step outside it’s a winner of a spot.

The Riding House Café, 43-51 Great Titchfield St, London W1W 7PQ
Opening hours: 7.30am – 11.30pm

Riding House Café

The Riding House Café is great, bright, buzzy place to work if you’re in central. Just behind Oxford Circus, the menu is lengthy, healthy and delicious. With the free WIFI too – what’s not to love! They even have private rooms should you need to book one out for a meeting behind closed doors.

Joe & The Juice, Dotted around London
Opening hours: 7.30am – 8.30pm

Joe & The Juice

Joe & The Juice is one of those places I never visited before and now I see them all over. I’m not complaining for one second. Grab a cosy chair and enjoy their seriously good selection of juices and smoothies as well as a great lunch menu of wraps and soups too. You may want to plug your headphones in as it can get a little noisy but it’s definitely worth it for the atmosphere. You’ll be storming through your work here!

Egg Break, 30 Uxbridge Street, W8 7TA
Opening hours: 8am-10pm

Egg Break

I love all things eggs. I also love Soho House and The Hoxton Hotel so when they teamed up recently to create Egg Break that has a menu which you guessed it, circles around eggs, it was always going to be a winner. Menu – tick. Great place to work – tick. Nice and central - tick. WIFI – tick. Loos (also very important) – tick. Last one in there three times now – tick.

Campus London, 5 Bonhill Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 4BX
Opening hours: 8am – 6pm

Campus London

I feel like this one is still the biggest of insider secrets. From the clever bods at Google, you can register for free to use Campus and it's great. Based in East London, open until 6pm everyday, it’s great for networking and what's more, they have amazing healthy cafés to keep everyone feeling good. There is of course speedy, free WIFI and all this is on an enormous floor entirely dedicated to free working space. Thank you Google!

100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6QJ

Opening hours: 24/7

The Ace Hotel

Ace Hotel London Shoreditch was built for creatives. A hub for galleries, theatre and design and only a short walk from Shoreditch High Street station; its lobby area is freelance heaven. Open 24 hours a day, sit back in one of the massive sofas or upright on the sixteen-seat central workstation. There are little alcoves too so you can tuck yourself away whilst still feeling like you’re not entirely on your own. Even the bar and restaurant lends itself to freelancers with plugs by each table. They just know how much we love plug sockets and WIFI. It’s ace.

Locations dotted around London.

Opening hours vary: 7.30am until the early hours

Balans Soho Society

“If restaurants could win Nobel prizes, Balans Soho Society would be in line…” Tatler Restaurant Guide 2016. Agreed. It really would. With locations all around London Balans has rows of plugs, WIFI aplenty and the most delicious menu that offers it all. Staff are super friendly too. A lot of freelancers come here for meetings and carry on their days so get there early if you want to grab a good spot.