Lloyd's of London , marine insurers

In the late seventeenth century, Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house in Tower Street, and later Lombard Street, where merchants and bankers were accustomed to meet to write insurance on ships and cargoes. In 1769, a group of such underwriters, who wished to distance themselves from a reputation for speculation, set up a New Lloyd's coffee house, at 5 Pope's Head Alley. Lloyd's first took on a collective identity when, two years later, the underwriters paid a subscription and elected a Committee, with the intention of establishing themselves in more suitable quarters and regulating the conduct of their business.

Lloyd's was governed by the Committee according to a constitution defined by a trust deed of 1811 and redefined by an Act of Parliament of 1871, which incorporated Lloyd's, and later Acts of 1888, 1911, 1925 and 1951. The management structure was revised under the terms of the Lloyd's Act of 1982 which established the Council of Lloyd's as the new governing body with powers to regulate the business of insurance at Lloyd's. The Committee of Lloyd's continued in existence with reduced powers.

Lloyd's remains a market for marine insurance, although, in the twentieth century, its business has expanded into other areas of insurance. Lloyd's was established at the Royal Exchange in 1774, and remained there until 1928, with only a brief interruption between the years 1838-44, following a fire. From 1928, Lloyd's occupied a site on the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall Street; subsequently opening a new building, on the other side of Lime Street, in 1957, and another new building, on the original site, in 1986.