We’ve got a Government with a Growth Mission. A Mayor with a Growth Plan. And yet we’re struggling for growth.
All this matters. The capital does things for the country that other cities can’t. London’s economic performance has a substantial bearing on the UK’s growth prospects. When it slows, national output, jobs, and investment slow with it.
The backdrop is sluggish growth, stalled productivity, and rising unemployment. Housing costs are constraining recruitment and retention, while global competitors are moving decisively to attract investment and talent. It’s time for an ‘action this day’ mindset to knock down barriers to growth.
That is the context for the BusinessLDN Growth Commission’s work. Today, the Commission is publishing a clear set of recommendations grounded in a simple proposition: if the UK is serious about delivering growth, the capital must be able to play its full role. What follows focuses on actions that can be taken now, alongside more ambitious propositions that offer significant long‑term returns.
Our work took us into sectors where the city has deep, globally competitive strengths.
Financial and professional services remain a cornerstone of the capital’s economy, supporting high‑value jobs and providing the capital, expertise, and liquidity that underpin growth nationwide. London is one of only two truly global financial centres, but sustaining that position depends on regulatory agility, investment certainty, and continued access to international talent.
The city is a leading global tech hub, with strengths in AI, fintech, and digital services. Fast, reliable connectivity and planning and regulatory systems that keep pace with innovation are critical economic infrastructure. Delay and uncertainty translate directly into lost investment and weaker productivity, so speeding up modern network roll-out is essential.
Life sciences offer a rich seam of opportunity. London’s concentration of world‑class universities, research hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies places it among the leading global clusters. The challenge has never been excellence, but speed and scale. The priorities set out here focus on commercialisation, faster regulatory pathways, and better use of the NHS as a partner in innovation.
The creative industries feature prominently. They are a major pull factor in London’s attractiveness as a place to live and work, as well as an economic powerhouse in their own right. From film and TV to fashion, design, and the performing arts, they are major employers, fast‑growing exporters, and central to the capital’s global identity. Rising costs, funding pressures, and regulatory friction risk undermining a sector that has outperformed the wider economy. The Commission sets out practical steps to ease those pressures and support continued growth.
Higher education underpins all of this. London’s universities are major employers, magnets for international students, and engines of research and innovation. They supply talent into growth sectors and generate start‑ups and spin‑outs. In an increasingly competitive global market, perceptions of openness, safety, and affordability matter, and the proposals reflect the need to protect the city’s global appeal as a place to study, research, and build a career.
But whilst each sector has its own specific issues, the most striking thing is perhaps how much they have in common in terms of barriers to growth. A consistent set of priorities emerges.
Housing is now inextricably linked to talent attraction and retention. Further supply side reforms are required, such as stepping up resource for the Building Safety Regulator and ensuring the Emergency Measures for housing designed to ease costs and planning requirements make a difference right now and last for long enough. Alongside this, we need well-designed, short-term support on the demand side, including a modernised version of the Help-to-Buy scheme.
Infrastructure decisions – on transport, energy, and digital connectivity – require greater certainty and pace to unlock private investment.
We need to win the narrative that London is a safe city by tackling crime and perceptions of crime to ensure these do not act as a deterrent to overseas investors, international students, tourists, and securing major events.
Tax needs attention, including a strong dose of “do no harm” by ruling out any further sector-specific taxes across the Industrial Strategy growth sectors; no more valuation shocks on business rates and seeing through the Government’s manifesto commitment to replace the business rates system which is increasingly not fit-for-purpose; and introducing an Office for Tax Competitiveness, tasked with analysing the taxes that are holding back jobs and investment relative to our competitors.
Finally, London’s key competitive advantage is its people. Skills systems need to move faster and align more closely with growth sectors, along with improving mobility and access to talent globally.
Fixing these cross-cutting issues is what will really shift the dial on growth.
Taken together, the BusinessLDN Growth Commission’s recommendations form a practical action plan for government – both nationally and here in London – focused on delivery, competitiveness, and steps that can be implemented now.
Backing London to grow is not about favouring one place over another. It is about strengthening one of the UK’s most important economic assets, and using it to drive investment, opportunity, and long‑term prosperity across the whole UK.