London is one of the world’s two financial capitals. Nowhere in the world can rival London’s depth and breadth in financial, professional and business services.
It is a centre that is open and connected, highly innovative and leading the world on sustainability.
Why it matters
London’s strengths include the full range of financial services, law, accountancy, management consulting and built environment services such as urban planning and engineering. London is also a global leader in technology in these sectors including fintech, regtech, enterprise tech, cyber and proptech.
These sectors are highly productive, and London has global competitive advantage in them. They make London globally powerful. London must back the City of London Corporation’s Vision for Economic Growth, the strategy to grow financial and professional services[61].
Places for growth
- Nurture London’s city centre as a global magnet for talent. London’s city centre is globally important to financial, professional and business services and technology. It must continue to be the place where the world’s biggest and most ambitious businesses choose to locate. See local places for more on this topic.
What we will do
To grow London’s priority sectors, we will:
- Grow the skilled workforce: This is the primary task, as all our priority sectors rely on human capital. The plan for this is in the inclusive talent strategy.
- Promote the sectors to win international investors and customers: We will promote London’s strengths in the key sectors and focus our inward investment activity on them. The plan for this is in investment and promotion.
- Dramatically increase investment into innovative companies: This is especially relevant for frontier innovation, but is also critical to grow technology companies. The plan for this is in investment and promotion.
- Support our growth sector businesses to scale internationally: Exporting is key to our ambition to grow global companies. The plan for this is in backing our businesses.
- Set a City Innovation Strategy: Use the power of London’s public sector to accelerate innovation through procurement, data and testing. The plan for this is in backing our businesses.
Learn more about the growth sectors
Frontier innovation
Discover London’s next superpower in life sciences, AI, green innovation and more.
Creative industries and technologies
Find out how we will grow our creative industries clusters for film, TV, gaming, music and more.
Experience economy
Uncover the importance of culture, hospitality, events and attractions to make London a brilliant place to visit, study and live.
International education
Explore how London’s international students feed our talent pipeline and why it’s a productive export sector for London.
Sources:
61. The Global City (2023). Vision for Economic Growth – a roadmap to prosperity.