London's business leaders: How our vibrant, dynamic city will rise to the challenge of Brexit

The adland queen: Annette King
Alex Lentati
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

For all the Brexit doom and gloom in some corners of the media, you’d have thought we were back in the credit-crunched days of Lehman Brothers and Northern Rock.

We’re not. While the referendum result shocked the London business scene to its vibrant, international core, it is clear to all but the biggest Eeyores that we are nowhere near the crisis territory some would have you believe. Yet there remains a sense of gloom which, if left to go without a reality check, could push us there.

That was why business leaders were so keen to gather at the Evening Standard this week to counter the negative spin with solutions, rather than problems. Positivity rather than pessimism. We assembled bosses from a wide cross-section of London’s most dynamic growth areas — finance, education, technology, advertising, the High Street, tourism and property — and asked them to create their own manifesto for how to spring London back into the positive frame of mind that makes our city great.

The ideas came thick and fast, but after much lively debate they boiled down to a 10-strong to-do list.

The biggest theme was the need to reassure the international community, living both here and abroad, that London has not suddenly become less welcoming, more xenophobic. Also, surprisingly, there was a repeated call for the wealth and jobs generated by enterprise to reach the young, minorities and stay-at-home mothers who have been left behind. Theresa May’s much-quoted speech on this last week could hardly have been better received.

The tourism boss

Nick Mackenzie, managing director, Merlin Entertainments Midway

Nick Mackenzie, managing director, Merlin Entertainments Midway

London has certainly been challenging but the pound’s fall will be good for inbound tourism to our attractions like the London Eye. It’s really important we recognise the importance of tourism as a key part of the London economy.

The adland queen

Annette King
Alex Lentati

Annette King, chief executive, Ogilvy & Mather UK

London has long been the centre of the advertising world. We have 38 nationalities in London, 10 per cent are non-UK EU citizens and I have to say, one or two have not accepted job offers in London because they have other options. Like many businesses here, we are an entirely talent-based business — we sell our time and our skills. It is crucial that, as a city, we find a way to retain that talent.

The tech investor

Suranga Chandratillake

Suranga Chandratillake, partner, Balderton Capital

There’s a lot of nervousness in some firms about passporting rights for companies here wanting to trade in the EU. Out of the tech centres of Stockholm, Berlin, Paris and London, London is the biggest pool of talent. But the best people can go wherever they want. As a country, we have to do our best to keep them here.

The West End property man

Toby Courtauld, chief executive of Great Portland Estates.

Toby Courtauld, chief executive, Great Portland Estates

Politicians mustn’t overlook London’s importance. If they don’t help the capital’s businesses, they’ll kill the golden goose that makes up 23 per cent of the UK economy. We need to protect and promote investment and jobs, to find the positives in a difficult situation. But we shouldn’t kid ourselves — we’re going to have a pretty interesting few years.

The challenger banker

Jayne-Anne Gadhia ( Daniel Hambury/Stella )
Daniel Hambury/Stella

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive, Virgin Money

It’s great that we’re here to talk about the positives, because this is not going to go away. I don’t believe people will be choosing between London and Frankfurt or Luxembourg. They will be looking at whether to be in London or New York.

The university dean

Marianne Lewis

Marianne Lewis, dean, Cass Business School

I’m afraid we’ve noticed real concern internationally — especially in Europe — with people saying, “Is talent development and knowledge creation still what London is about?” London has more global leading business schools than anywhere else in the world. Let’s underline those words, “leading” and “global”. We must send that positive message.

The fintech guru

Rhydian Lewis
Jeremy Selwyn

Rhydian Lewis, chief executive, RateSetter

It’s worrying, but stimulating too, so let’s look at the positives. The UK government wants to support fintech and arguably it will be easier for it to do so without getting bogged down by the EU. We’ll be freer. With Europe it was always the case that when they wanted to change something they’d do it quickly, when they didn’t, they always found a way to stop it.

The big banker

Ashok Vaswani

Ashok Vaswani, chief executive, Barclays UK

Barclays has seen a lot over the past 326 years and it will see a lot in the next 326. We will get through this like we always have. This is an opportunity to really step out and say, “Hey, we’re bigger than we feel!” People who seek capital will always come to London and New York. London has built up this brilliant ecosystem of finance, law, regulation, markets, transport, tourism. You can’t recreate that overnight.

The tycoon

Lloyd Dorfman

Lloyd Dorfman, Travelex founder and serial entrepreneur

I’ve set up companies all over the world and London is without doubt the best place to do business. That’s the message we need to get out there. We have to pick ourselves up from this, dust ourselves down and get on with it. There are positives: we’ve seen a pick-up in tourists coming to London. They’re spending a fortune here on high-end Rolexes and luxury goods because of the pound.

The high street foodie

John Vincent of Leon Restaurants

John Vincent, chief executive, Leon Restaurants

Somewhere in the order of 70 per cent of our staff are from the EU and they needed reassurance. They were thinking we hated them. It was an issue and, to be honest, it remains an issue — people feel less welcome and more fearful. Having said that, this is exciting and I think we needed a kick up the arse. The best thing to come out of it is Theresa May, who’s doing all the right things.

The numbers man

David Sproul 
Nigel Howard

David Sproul, chief executive, Deloitte

Our success will all come down to skills. London is the highest-skilled city in the world and we have to make sure it stays that way. In all the trade negotiations to come, we have to remember that for London, people are more important than trade. Whatever actions we in business and Government take we must retain the attractiveness of London for this diversity of skills.

London's business manifesto

Communicate

Businesses should fund a “Love London” PR and advertising campaign abroad, selling the brilliance and beauty of the capital. This welcome to overseas tourists and potential trading partners should be based on our values of diversity and resilience, and our status as a humane society  and the world’s best place for enterprises to thrive.

Get organised

Boost government funding for the Mayor’s office to encourage more foreign trade and tourists to London. Learn from London’s Olympic 2012 bid success and create one figurehead to focus purely on this task, as Lord Coe did for the Games.

Build

Government must make a quick start on infrastructure projects such as  Crossrail 2 and advanced broadband roll-out. It must make a decision on airport expansion now and build more affordable housing in London.

Help enterprise

Launch an “unleash enterprise” package of deregulation, easing of planning laws, deferral of business rate rises and VAT reductions.

Attract talent

London’s employers must make an urgent case to the Government explaining exactly what talent  they need from the EU and why, stressing the need for young people as well as those with high-level skills. Make a compelling case that talent from overseas is vital for London  to thrive.

Fund arts

Government and business must pledge continued support for the arts. Recognise that London’s museums, theatres and other cultural activities give the city a massive edge in retaining and attracting people to  the capital.

Industrial plan

Identify London’s key skills for the future and create a long-term strategy to support those industries, for example finance, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, education, media and technology.

Share opportunity

Help those excluded from mainstream business to become entrepreneurs. Create a government- and business-funded seed lending bank for groups excluded from mainstream business such as young people, mothers at home and deprived communities. 

Celebrate success

Encourage media and politicians to celebrate the success of London’s businesses rather than focusing overly on failures and scandals.

Welcome visitors

Ease visa restrictions for Asia, particularly China, to boost in-bound tourism and investment.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT