London is open for business
More than half of the businesses in the FTSE 100 and over a fifth of Europe’s largest 500 companies have their headquarters in London, while 75% of the Fortune 500 companies have a London office.
The city has the world’s largest insurance market, the leading exchange for dealing in non-precious metals, the largest gold lending market, the largest ship broking market, and more international media than any other city.
It is home to over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world, with more Japanese banks than Tokyo and more American banks than New York.
More funds are invested in the City of London than in the next top ten European cities combined.
London has more to its business strength than its financial markets. It is a hub for music, fashion, advertising and design, and a world leader in professional services such as accountancy and law.
It is also a world centre for research and development, with 42 academic institutions and countless research institutions offering services to businesses and access to some of the world’s finest minds.
London is a gateway to the European market providing a springboard to access nearly 50 million customers. Its success and continual growth has been built on international trade.
We are changing the way we do business to reflect changes in our priorities. London carries out more carbon trading than any other city in the world.
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The City of London is changing the way it does business to reflect contemporary priorities and concerns.
It currently dominates the £75 billion global market in carbon trading and is working to become a leader in environmental and climate-change issues.
London is leading the way to a low-carbon economy
The global market for environmental products and services is forecast to reach €2,200 billion by 2020. London will take advantage of this fast-growing market by positioning itself as the world’s leading low-carbon economy.
Plans include the transformation of east London into a world-renowned centre for green industry and sustainable development.
Located in the Thames Gateway regeneration area, this new Green Enterprise District is ideally positioned to benefit from investment relating to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and excellent transport links with London and the south east.
Existing waterways will be used for low-carbon transport to the rest of the UK and Europe.
The Green Enterprise District will feature new green industries, low-carbon infrastructure, education and training facilities, and visitor attractions creating an additional 128,000 jobs by 2025.
Most importantly, it will include communities where environment and quality of life will be just as important as economic growth.
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The London Development Agency’s plans for the Green Enterprise District in the Thames Gateway.
London makes creative use of space
London is a hotbed of creative and entrepreneurial activity. The city is home to the largest artistic and creative community in Europe, including some of the world's most innovative designers.
Its 113,000 creative companies produce an annual turnover of £21–29 billion and employ more than one in five people living in the city, a figure which equates to over half a million jobs.
The creative sector is predicted to be the fastest-growing part of London’s economy over the next five years.
The creative community continues to shape the evolution, regeneration and reinvention of the city, not only by pioneering sustainable architecture and urban design, but by the decisions it makes about where – and how – to work: making creative re-use of neglected building stock and breathing new life into run-down parts of town.
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The Freelancers of London by Sam Peach and Tora Davidson. In a world that is controlled by fewer and larger businesses, which rely on the committed employment of large numbers of people, this project focuses on professionals in London that work outside this system, as freelancers.
They often work from home making modest incomes and are driven by the freedom that this life choice creates.
This portrait study explores how the person’s identity and career choice are visible in the environment in which they choose to work.