City chiefs issue rallying cry to counter ‘disinformation’ about London’s decline

A group of influential City chiefs have thrown their weight behind an industry-wide campaign to tackle “disinformation about London” and promote the capital as an innovative hub for global investment.

All four of the financial sector’s largest industry bodies have signed up to Team UK, a new initiative spearheaded by the Lady Mayor of London, in a bid to to extol the capital’s virtues as an attractive destination for international investment.

Lady Mayor Dame Susan Langley will launch the fightback against what she sees as the wave of “inaccurate stories” about London’s decline at a Business and Trade dinner at the City’s Mansion House on Wednesday.

“Around the world cities and nations are competing harder than ever for capital, talent and influence – they are promoting their strengths and telling their stories with confidence, clarity and conviction,” she said ahead of the campaign’s unveiling. “We must stand up and do the same and not allow inaccurate stories to colour how the world perceives us.”

The new campaign – whose more than 200 advocates include both the Investment Association and the fintech industry body Innovate Finance – will call on City institutions to act as ambassadors for the capital, amplifying “positive, fact-led messages” about London.

The capital’s standing as a global financial powerhouse has come under intense scrutiny in recent years amid a dearth of high-profile listings and a flurry of foreign investors picking off UK-based companies.

City’s capital markets struggle to find spark

Feted City institutions like 222-year-old wealth management thoroughbred Schroders and insurance giant Beazley have both been sold to foreign rivals pouncing on the low valuations on London’s stock market.

Privately owned, growth-stage companies have been caught in a similar bind, with the likes of Oxford Ionics – a quantum computing trailblazer – and chipmaker Alphawave both snapped up by American rivals in the past year.

The campaign, which is also backed by the City UK and banking lobby group UK Finance, coincides with the launch of a fresh paper by Barclays that warned Britain was struggling with a reputation for instability and decline on the international stage.

It said: “Narratives play a pivotal role in shaping foreign investment intentions, and there have been occasions in the recent past when the UK has lost control of its international narrative, to the detriment of foreign investment.”

Team UK will also attempt to tackle misconceptions that London has become a hotbed for violent crime, citing a study conducted by Sadiq Khan’s City Hall that claimed to have revealed a spike in negative depictions about London on social media.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has blamed the narrative on “China, Russia or Maga influencers”.

Speaking at the SXSW festival in London on Monday, he said: “We’re not perfect, but we are the greatest city in the world in terms of culture, tourism, music.”

Foreign firms pull investment

Recent Ipsos Mori polling found the UK capital had retained its position as the world’s most desirable place in which to live for the 11th year running.

“The UK is a global leader in financial services, which drives innovation and supports households and businesses across the country,” said Miles Celic, chief executive at The City UK. “Regulatory reforms are enhancing our competitiveness, and we are setting the pace in areas such as green finance, payments technology and more. We have a vibrant, strong financial sector, and it’s important that this strength is recognised.”

The bullish sentiment stands in stark contrast to the host of business grandees who have warned the country’s tax and regulatory landscape was deterring investment and economic activity in London and the wider economy.

Marks & Spencer chair Archie Norman used the supermarket’s annual report to warn on Monday that “rarely in history” had the UK offered such a tough landscape for businesses and investors.

A host of foreign companies have also paused investment as a result of recent tax measures, including the Eurotunnel owner Getlink and OpenAI. The ChatGPT maker scrapped its plans to build a UK data centre in April, citing the country’s sky-high energy costs.