Thought for London - October / November

London is top

This month, the European Cities Monitor, commissioned by international real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield ranked London the best European city in which to set up and do business. This is for the 18th consecutive year and comes on top of the OCO Consulting report released in the summer which ranked London and Shanghai as the top two cities for business world-wide.

Now while this is satisfying, there is always more to do in order to maintain this position both in established markets but also in the rapidly emerging markets including Brazil, China and Russia.

With this in mind we continue to actively take our message to market – both through our teams and colleagues – but in addition this month with our new branded Think London taxi. This vehicle which we launched in market this month is actually a mobile information and communication centre - that is technology enabled – and allows investors to explore how they can benefit from the $ 80 billion of growth projected in London over the next five years.
The taxi successfully initiated its world tour in the US in October, and is currently on its way to India to support the Mayor of London’s visit to India and the opening of offices in Delhi and Mumbai. Then in 2008, the tour will hit the road in China, stopping in key Chinese business cities to engage with investors before arriving in Beijing to support the London Presence at the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Meanwhile back in London – for those already committed to entering the London Market - our ‘ Touchdown London’ incubator and start-up service for Chinese companies has successfully taken off with an early entrant being Crystal Digital Technologies – a leading graphic design supplier to the Beijing Games in 2008 – that is setting up in London in order to be able to take advantage of the business opportunities in support of the London 2012 Games.

I think you will agree it continues to be an exciting time for businesses in London – we are proud to be considered to be Number One in these European and Global tables – and we are determined to maintain this position.

Michael Charlton
Chief Executive, Think London

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