I’ve had an incredible year as Lord Mayor – here’s to the next 695 October 28, 2024 Next week the 696th Lord Mayor of London takes office followed by the Lord Mayor’s Show. As I reflect on the past year in this, my last mayoral column, I hear the American philosopher, William James: “It takes an endless amount of history to make even a little tradition”. I can tell you it takes [...]
Class action boom in UK is yet another disincentive to investing here October 24, 2024 As the country holds its collective breath ahead of next week’s Budget, it’s fair to say that business confidence in the UK is lower than the Treasury might like. Last week, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) reported that business confidence had fallen to a 12-month low, while the Institute of [...]
Borrowing to invest is all very well but what about value for money? October 23, 2024 The precise contents of the budget are still secret. But a widely trailed theme is that the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, wants to create as much scope as possible for extra public sector investment. She appears to be willing to rewrite the existing fiscal rules in order to accommodate the increase. In principle of course there [...]
Government pledge to make UK “top destination for women’s sport investment” October 23, 2024 The government has today pledged to make the United Kingdom a “top destination for women’s sport investment”. Investment minister Poppy Gustafsson, formerly of Darktrace, has launched the Women’s Sport Investment Accelerator scheme to bring together 20 leagues and teams with investors to boost commercial activity in women’s sport. The participating sports include football, cricket, rugby, [...]
Now is the time for the City to look again at investing in Africa October 18, 2024 For at least the last decade, Africa has been widely proclaimed as a sleeping giant; a continent of huge economic potential. We heard numerous voices at the United Nations General Assembly in New York a few weeks back echo the sentiment. Yet the message does not appear to be attractive to those global investors who [...]
International Investment Summit showcased the best of Britain October 15, 2024 After years of uncertainty about the vision and direction of the UK, investors should once again view Britain as serious about leading the race to a greener economy and being the go-to destination for inward investment, says John Caudwell Britain pioneered industrialisation. The entrepreneurialism of British engineers and innovators sparked the first industrial revolution, a [...]
The UK is an economic powerhouse – and we should know October 14, 2024 Brits should be less British about boasting about the strengths of our economy and our enduring spirit of entrepreneurialism, creativity and innovation, says Saker Nusseibeh It is a common characteristic of our national discourse to err towards the negative. An inclination to see, but not celebrate, what this country already does so well. Perhaps it [...]
If growth is the challenge then investment is the solution October 14, 2024 The UK needs to drastically improve its ‘fundamentals’ in housing, energy, transport and digital infrastructure in order to attract private investment, and today's summit is the right place to start, says Dan Tomlinson MP
Bosses at world’s biggest banks: Britain is ‘ready for investment’ October 14, 2024 Bosses at five of the world’s biggest banks, along with a host of insurers, private equity firms and tech giants, have backed a push to invest in the UK ahead of the government’s flagship investment summit today. More than a dozen executives signed a letter stating that they were optimistic about the future of the [...]
Scale-ups: How to turn big ideas into big business October 14, 2024 The UK is a global leader in start-ups, but too many are running up against a brick wall when they seek the support, skills and the finance they need to scale up, says Rain Newton Smith With the government’s UK Investment Summit today, the big question for many is how we can actually make that [...]