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Welcome
Welcome to London Update, the newsletter which gives you a round-up of London success stories and news highlights in the ultimate place to do business.
Think London is the official inward investment agency for London. We connect international businesses to London, helping them set up, succeed and grow. Our service is completely free, comprehensive and confidential. www.thinklondon.com
April 2005
Boosts for London
Going Global: while Europe dithers, London opens its doors to the world
Newsweek devotes its lead cover story to a six-page special report on London this week. The international edition of the prestigious magazine reports that ‘London is the only major European capital that is actually growing’, and declares that the city ‘has let the world in, and become a model for making a 21st-century metropolis work.’ Click here to read the full article.
Think London strengthens business links with India
Over 10,000 Indian-owned businesses, including 140 Indian multi–national companies, operate in London and employ 49,000 people. Together these businesses generate a combined turnover of over USD 14.4 billion, representing five per cent of London’s economy. These facts are highlighted in a new Think London report called ’Indian Communities in London’ . The highlights of the report were announced by Michael Charlton, Chief Executive, Think London during his recent trip to Mumbai and Delhi. The campaign led to prominent coverage in the Indian business press, including The Economic Times, Financial Express, Business Line, The Times of India and The Telegraph. In the UK the Financial Times also carried news of the report. To view the press release and the coverage please click here
New destinations with £40m City airport expansion
London City airport is to offer a series of new destinations as part of a £40 million expansion. The airport hopes to offer flights to Glasgow and Newcastle this year and is looking at links with Copenhagen, Stockholm, Madrid, Milan and Vienna by the end of 2006. It now serves 23 destinations, 14 of them on the Continent.
London gets £16m training facility
British athletics is celebrating a £16 million prize with the unveiling of plans for a new high performance centre in a corner of north London. The Lee Valley Athletics Centre, with the only indoor 200 metres track in the south of England, will be built at Pickett’s Lock in Enfield. Dave Moorcroft, the chief executive of UK Athletics, said: â€London is a hot-bed of athletics talent and the region often provides 40 per cent of the Great Britain team.â€
New plan to maintain London as a world-class centre for manufacturing
A major new strategy has been launched to help London manufacturers retain their international competitiveness through improved technology, design and staff training. The strategy, launched by the London Development Agency, also aims to help manufacturers export more successfully, develop niche markets and win more public sector contracts.
Motor show drives home to London
Britain’s main motor show is to return to London following an absence of nearly 30 years. The British International Motor Show will now be staged at the Excel centre in London’s Docklands. Event organisers said they are backing a bid with Excel because it promises to deliver â€a world-class event in the world’s greatest cityâ€. The next show will take place in 2006.
To be the best
London ’the gourmet capital of the world’
London has the best restaurants of any city in the world, according to a prestigious American food magazine. Gourmet magazine devotes an entire 180-page issue to London, the first time that one city has been singled out with a special edition of the title. Editors of the food bible, which has one million readers worldwide, said they were ’blown away’ by the capital’s food scene. The endorsement was backed up recently by Restaurant magazine which affirms that London has 11 of the world’s top restaurants.
London Eye on top of the world as it becomes best tourist attraction
The London Eye has earned its place among the world’s most famous landmarks, beating the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and the leaning tower of Pisa in a poll. The 135m-high Eye on the South Bank of the River Thames was voted the world’s best tourist attraction, above the likes of the Sydney Opera House.
London’s Shard of Glass to be tallest hotel in Europe
Hotel chain Shangri-La plans to take over more than 20 floors of London’s new ‘Shard of Glass’ tower at London Bridge, central London. It will be a hotel in the clouds – and many of the rooms will even have a sea view. The intention is to create what will be Europe’s tallest hotel and the first purpose-built five star hotel in the capital for more than a decade.
’Valiant’, a British-made tale of bird-brained war heroes, hopes to be the next ’Shrek’
Valiant, a computer-generated animated feature film, is the latest production in an increasingly-innovative and successful genre. However, it differs from its famous predecessors, such as Toy Story and Shrek, in one major respect: it was made in London – at Ealing Studios, west London. Hollywood thought it could not be done; not only did the team complete it, they did so in considerably less time and with less money than in America.
London connects
London Underground plans for mobile phones in Tube stations
Mayor Ken Livingstone has announced that London Underground is seeking proposals from suppliers to provide mobile phone use and associated technologies on Tube stations. Mobile phone services could be available to Tube passengers on all underground stations from the summer of 2008.
London Underground to host digital advertising for the first time
London Underground is to allow digital advertising on its escalators for the first time, as part of a trial being handled by Viacom Outdoor. Viacom, the current holder of London Underground’s outdoor advertising contract, is trialling the display screens, called Digital Escalator Panels (D-EPs), on the side of the most-used escalators on the network at Tottenham Court Road station.
UK tops G7 broadband availability league
Britain has better broadband availability than any other G7 nation, the government has claimed. â€The UK now has the most extensive broadband market in the G7. We said we wanted the UK to be the best place in the world for e-business and this is fast becoming a reality,â€said Mike O’Brien, minister of state for energy and e-commerce. London has close to 100% Broadband availability.
Economy: health and wealth
London leading the way as global centre for legal services
London is the top global centre for legal services according to a new report by International Financial Services, London (IFSL) – Legal Services. The largest law firms in London have more lawyers overseas and a bigger international network than most US law firms. The strength of London as an international centre for legal services is reinforced by the expertise of barristers involved in international practice.
UK economy tops growth estimates
The UK economy expanded faster last year than previously estimated, the Office for National Statistics has said. The economic growth rate for 2004 has been revised upwards from 2.8% to 2.9%, due to higher industrial output.
London manages 75% of European hedge fund assets
European-based hedge funds’ assets managed out of London grew by 60% in 2004 to reach $190 billion according to the 2005 edition of International Financial Services London’s (IFSL) Hedge Funds report. London was second only to New York as a location for hedge fund managers.
UK eyes property funds for 2006
The UK government will aim to introduce Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) in 2006, a move that could allow people to buy their own cinemas or offices. Reits, sometimes called Property Investment Funds, are popular in countries such as the US and Australia. Their lure is the fact that Reits are free of corporation tax.
New Think London inward investment
University of Chicago chooses London for GSB European campus
The top-ranking University of Chicago Graduate School of Business is relocating its European campus from Barcelona to London in order to ‘leverage London’s corporate and financial power and the city’s connections to market-oriented economies around the world.’
Think London helps US insurance giant The Hartford open London HQ
The Hartford, a leading US investment and insurance company with assets under management of $291billion, has expanded its international operations by opening an office at Canary Wharf, east London.
Sectors of success
To add to our knowledge bank, we have produced a variety of new reports, covering the many industry sectors in which London excels. To view all these reports, ranging from overviews on fashion to food and drink, click here.
Contact us
No-one knows London like we do. Contact us to find out more about how we can help your business succeed in London. Think London gives you fast-track access to the information, expertise and contacts you can rely on.
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