The University of Chicago Booth School of Business will relocate its current campus in London to a new, larger space in the heart of the historic city of London, allowing the top-rated business school to expand its activities and presence in the region.
Booth’s enhanced presence in London will foster increased engagement with the London business and finance community on vital issues, allowing Booth to leverage the city’s corporate and financial power and its connections to market-oriented economies around the world. This will continue to build academic and professional opportunities for students and alumni, many of whom work in London. The London expansion complements Booth’s set of programs at the University’s new campus in Hong Kong, reflecting a truly global approach to thinking about business and finance, and what an MBA means at this time.
“Global engagement is fundamental to the University’s ambitious efforts to create new opportunities for research and education, and it is an integral part of Chicago Booth’s distinctive model of business education,” said President Robert J. Zimmer. “Our expanded presence in London will bring together faculty, students, alumni and visitors from around the globe to work in one of the world’s great financial and cultural centers.”
Booth’s new campus is located at One Bartholomew Close in Barts Square in a newly constructed office building a short walk from St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Museum of London. Booth plans to move from its current London campus, at 25 Basinghall Street in the financial district, to the new building in late spring 2020.
The new, state-of-the-art campus will continue to serve as home to Booth’s Executive MBA Europe Program, and the increased size will allow for expanded programming, including MBA classes, non-degree executive education, academic conferences and seminars, speaker events, and a wide range of alumni and corporate events and activities, which can be held simultaneously.
“This move represents Chicago Booth’s renewed commitment to the Executive MBA program in Europe and will broaden the school’s impact across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region,” said Madhav Rajan, dean of Chicago Booth and the George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting. “Our campus will be located in the heart of the city, in a newly developed neighborhood that showcases the best of London. I expect this will serve as a vibrant home for our faculty, staff and students, and as a welcoming venue to host our external community of alumni, prospective students, and corporate and government partners.”
Booth’s unique approach to executive business education integrates global perspectives at campuses in Chicago, London and Hong Kong. In 1943, Booth introduced the world's first executive MBA program, and was the first to establish a truly global presence with permanent campuses on three continents. Today, professionals from the world’s best organizations study at the three global locations with Booth’s Nobel Prize-winning faculty. All of the courses taught are by Booth faculty, who fly to the campuses in Asia and Europe.
Occupying a total of 43,796 square feet on the first three floors, the new campus will have two executive-style tiered classrooms, flexible event space, and open areas for alumni, students, staff and guests from across the University. The campus will be open and easily accessible, creating a hub of activity based in London, designed to draw engagement broadly across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
With a private, ground-level entrance, Booth will be a visible presence in the rapidly developing mixed-use area of Barts Square, which includes residential, office and retail space, created by leading London developers Helical and Ashby Capital. Booth’s new London campus is easily accessible from St. Paul’s Station on the Central Line (3-minute walk), the new Farringdon East Elizabeth Line Station (2-minute walk) and Barbican Station (3-minute walk). Its location provides direct connections to Heathrow Airport, London City Airport and King’s Cross Station for the Eurostar, as well as easy connections to the West End, Shoreditch and Canary Wharf.
Since 2005, Booth has run a successful campus in London, where it houses the Executive MBA Program, which attracts students from the entire EMEA region. Prior to that, Booth’s European campus was located in Barcelona, where it operated since 1995.
This new campus vision was informed by a faculty committee on Europe as well as interviews with the broader faculty, staff, alumni and students.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
