THE UK’S financial services sector is deeply attractive to foreign investors, a study by TheCityUK claimed yesterday.
Over a quarter of the 50,000 firms in the sector are owned overseas, rising to 33 per cent for companies valued between £25m and £100m, and 45 per cent for businesses firms worth over £100m.
Of that investment, 45 per cent comes from the US, 26 per cent from Europe and 16 per cent from Asia.
Chris Cummings, chief executive of TheCityUK, hopes the government’s strategy of commercial diplomacy will help boost those shares and increase economic growth.through links with developing economies.
“The way the UK is positioning itself as an offshore centre for renminbi trading, for example, is very positive,” he told City A.M.
“Representatives from Brazil have been in London and are very keen to understand how the UK will build business there, and a memorandum of understanding was recently signed in Moscow, witnessed by David Cameron and Russian President Medvedev.”
“While it is vital that we make Europe more competitive, the UK’s future has to be about a wider vision.”
Investment, lending and general insurance were the largest sectors identified in the survey.
