City of London Corporation – Innovation & Growth Highlights
The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reverberating across Europe and the world. The City will play its part to help resolve the current crisis by acting swiftly and robustly in line with our government. As the Lord Mayor wrote in CityAM, we stand with Ukraine. And we support the Disasters Emergency Committee in urging people to donate to their Ukraine humanitarian appeal.
Boosting trade with global partners
The US is the UK’s largest trading partner for financial and professional services. It accounts for a third of our financial services exports. In her recent visit to New York and Washington, with TheCityUK, the Policy Chair pushed for further UK-US regulatory cooperation. Areas of opportunity include sustainability, market access and digital regulation. In parallel, the Lord Mayor continued his international travel with a visit to the US West Coast and Mexico. His talks focused on the UK’s offer as a partner on fintech and financing the green transition.
Work with our closest neighbours is also critical to future prosperity. The Lord Mayor and Chair of Policy also met political, industry and regulatory leaders in Dublin. Discussions aimed at building bilateral trade between the two centres. Later this year the Lord Mayor will host the Irish Financial Dialogue.
Promoting UK investment management
The UK’s investment management sector is a mainstay of our leading financial services industry. It employs 42,000 people nationwide, and manages £11tn of assets. This is why the City of London Corporation, in partnership with Department for International Trade and the Investment Association, have launched Global Investment Futures. This new campaign will promote the UK to global investors, highlighting the factors that make it the world’s leading centre for investment management – and a trusted place to do business.
Our global offer to business
Our latest figures show that London and the UK’s overall competitive offer for business continues to lead globally. The second edition of the City’s benchmarking study compares the UK against other centres including New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris and Frankfurt. Responding to the challenges of the past twelve months, the UK continues to perform strongly across all key dimensions. Overall, it leads as an innovative ecosystem. But the report also identifies areas where the UK needs to improve.
Return to the Square Mile
City businesses have faced exceptionally difficult trading conditions over the last two years. We are delighted to be welcoming workers and visitors back to a buzzing Square Mile. Our relaunched Square Smile campaign will showcase the best of the City’s retail, hospitality, and cultural offer.
Who gets ahead in finance?
Research from the Bridge Group shows employees from non-professional backgrounds progress 25% more slowly than peers in financial services. The City of London Corporation leads an independent taskforce to improve socio-economic diversity at senior levels in financial and professional services. We invite employers and employees to contribute to the UK’s first baseline for socio-economic diversity in the sector through an anonymous survey. If your organisation wants to help move the dial, register your interest here.
If you think there are other opportunities to strengthen the City, please don’t hesitate to contact us at financial.services@cityoflondon.gov.uk.
