London: Best business location in Europe

06-Oct-2009

The UK’s capital celebrates two decades at the top

The latest European Cities Monitor 2009 has ranked London for the 20th consecutive year as the number one European city in which to locate a business. Extending its lead on nearest rival Paris, London came first in all three major rating criteria; access to markets, talent supply and connectivity (digital and physical).

Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London, said: “London has proved exceptionally resilient to the downturn, and has intentionally turned some of its effects to its advantage. Over the last year we have witnessed a flight to quality, with many of our clients capitalising on the bigger talent pool and improved property supply, the lower cost of both being enhanced by beneficial currency markets. Clients such as BTIG, China Merchants Bank, and TerraCycle, and a large number of Japanese companies, have expanded their operations in our city. The fact that London has further increased its scores for market access, connectivity and property, proves that there has never been a better time to invest in London.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "Yet again London leads the way as the number one city for business. All these recent surveys make it crystal clear that the world’s attention is focussed on our capital, offering it an extremely bright future. We are working tirelessly to promote London as the top business and tourist destination and will continue to set the benchmark. We are pushing ahead with major infrastructure improvements, like Crossrail and the Olympics, and delivering programmes to increase the skills of our workforce so that companies investing in London have a pool of talent ready to employ. Therefore I urge all international and European businesses who want a base in the world's best city for business to get in touch”.

London, Paris and Frankfurt remain the top three European locations sitting comfortably ahead of all other challengers. Of these three, the UK’s capital was also rated as the most improved. It ranked second for the availability of property, with a 33% improvement in its score for property value. It also jumped from fifth to second as the city that is doing the most to improve itself.

The European Cities Monitor (ECM) is the annual location survey of Europe’s leading companies carried out by global real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield. The survey, undertaken by market research firm TNS, is based on interviews with senior managers and board directors in charge of location of 500 top European companies. It looks at factors regarded as important by companies when deciding where to locate, and then compares the performance of 34 of Europe’s leading business cities on each factor.

Also released today, the IBM 2009 Global Location Trends Report, which is based on data that records investment projects around the world, reveals that London has maintained its position as the world’s top destination for investment.

ENDS

To access the European Cities Monitor, please click here (www.europeancitiesmonitor.eu)

To receive a full copy of the report or for media enquiries please contact: Ravi Sunnak: ravi.sunnak@trimediauk.com  T: 020 7025 7500 M: 07990 505 522

For more information on setting up business in London, contact us today