By Jessica Frank-Keyes
Sadiq Khan is set to address the “cost of doing business crisis” at a crunch summit with firms including Uber, Natwest and KPMG.
The mayor of London will welcome more than 200 CEOs to his annual City Hall business reception at the Crystal in east London today.
He is expected to tell firms the “cost-of-doing-business crisis casts a long shadow over our economy, just as there’s a cost-of-living crisis inflicting a heavy price on our communities.”
Khan will say: “This is why I’m more determined than ever to live up to my promise of being the most pro-business mayor London has ever had… by working hard to create the conditions for you to thrive, our people will prosper too.”
It comes amid Labour’s efforts to woo the Square Mile, with the ‘scrambled eggs offensive’ spearheaded by leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Attendees at the event will also include Deloitte; D&D London; the British Beer and Pub Association; Tech London Advocates; Abrdn; The City UK; Business LDN; the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association; the Federation of Small Businesses; Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield; and the Canary Wharf Group.
The mayor will highlight support from the Grow London scheme, run by London & Partners, to help UK and international firms expand and create future employment opportunities. While a ‘single front door’ service is set to launch this autumn offering a one-stop shop for business advice to scale ups and small firms.
City Hall hopes Grow London will ensure 400 growing companies a year, including those in the fintech and cleantech sectors, are able to expand overseas
Grow London boss Janet Coyle said London’s success relied on “a mix of international and home-grown businesses… access to high levels of growth capital and world class talent”.
She added: “The mayor’s support for our services will help our city’s businesses to keep accelerating their growth at home and abroad.”
