Lloyd's Coffee House was a coffee house opened by Edward Lloyd around 1688 in Tower Street, London. This establishment was a popular place for sailors, merchants, and ship owners, and Lloyd catered to them with reliable shipping news. The shipping industry community frequented the place to discuss insurance deals among themselves. The dealing that took place led to the establishment of the insurance market Lloyd's of London and several related shipping and insurance businesses.
Just after Christmas 1691, the coffee shop relocated to Lombard Street. Merchants continued to discuss insurance matters here until 1774, long after Lloyd's death in 1713, when the participating members of the insurance arrangement formed a committee and moved to the Royal Exchange on Cornhill as The Society of Lloyd's.
The 17th-century original shop frontage of Lloyd's Coffee House is owned by Lloyd's of London and has been re-erected on display at the National Maritime Museum.[1] A blue plaque in Lombard Street commemorates the coffee house's location.