Business Profile
It is impossible to underestimate the importance of London to the UK’s
economy. With an annual GDP larger than many small countries, the City of London
is the epicentre of British financial life and one of the world’s leading
international financial centres.
This square mile located on the eastern side of central London and referred
to as ‘The City’, boasts an impressive concentration and variety
of banks, insurance companies and other business services. In fact, financial
and business services throughout London employ around a third of the Greater
London workforce.
Over the last few years, the British government has delegated greater responsibility
to the Bank of England (website: www.bankofengland.co.uk),
while the London Stock Exchange (website: www.londonstockexchange.com)
has floated itself.
However, The City and the stock market in particular has been suffering badly
in 2002. Post the September 11 terrorist attacks, investor confidence seems
to have gone and the stock market has reached a six-year low. Major companies
seem to be feeling the pinch, which has a knock-on effect on jobs. Beyond the
financial heart of London, law, computing, design, media, arts and fashion
are all struggling to avoid the global slump, with the advertising sector being
worst hit.
One industry that has shown signs of recovery is the tourism industry, which
has fought back from the double setback of Foot and Mouth and September 11
to stage a partial recovery. Although 2001 was one of the worst years on record
for tourism in London, 2002 levels look set to be only slightly down on those
of the years preceding the outbreak of Foot and Mouth.
The list of companies based in London is almost endless as most major international
companies have offices here, including IBM, Sun Microsystems and Warburgs.
London in the 1980s and 1990s saw a decline in production and manufacturing
jobs and a growth in the service sector. However, strengths remain in modern
product-based manufacturing – specialist firms producing niche products – and
high-tech companies. New light industry parks have sprung up out of town, although
many businesses (such as computing) still prefer to stay closer to The City.
For the more fashionable industries, such as media and design, a West End
address is the most sought after, especially one in Soho. To the east of the
City, the Docklands has come of age and is now a credible and popular business
location with good public transport links and modern office complexes.
The centrepiece is Canary Wharf, Britain’s tallest building, which has
been joined recently by two neighbouring skyscrapers. One of these, the state-of-the-art
Excel, is increasingly giving traditional conference venues a run for their
money, with the world’s largest travel exhibition, World Travel Market,
moving to the venue for 2002.
Unemployment in Greater London is low by European standards but slightly
higher than the UK average at 6% (2001 annual rate) compared to a national
average of 4.9% (2001 annual rate).
Business Etiquette
Business hours are officially 0900 or 0930 until 1700 or 1730, although in
practice many companies have much longer hours. Business in London is intense
and fast paced. Extended business lunches and post-work drinks were regarded
as part of the modern working environment until relatively recently. Nowadays
the emphasis is increasingly on hard work and long hours.
Some older establishments may be strictly formal, however, meetings are (as
a rule) relatively relaxed and first names are often used after the initial
introduction. However, British businesspeople are unlikely to be overtly demonstrative – hand
gestures and the use of expressive body language will be minimal and apart
from shaking hands, physical contact should be avoided.
Standard dress code is a suit and tie for men and a suit (or equivalent) for
women but varies greatly depending on the company, with those in the new technologies
sectors especially tending towards informality.
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