The Coal Exchange was built between 1883 and 1886 to the designs of James, Seward and Thomas. It was here that Cardiff�s leading businessmen-owners of shipping firms, coal mines and of allied businesses met to fix their deals, some with far distant countries. Cardiff, which half a century before had been a market town of 10,000 people with a small coastal trade, had become a commercial centre of importance on the world�s stage.