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Business
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.
Business Services
Business Contacts: London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
33 Queen Street, London EC4R 1AP
Tel: (020) 7248 4444. Fax: (020) 7489 0391.
E-mail: lc@londonchamber.co.uk
Website: www.londonchamber.co.uk
British Chambers of Commerce
Manning House, 22 Carlisle Place, London SW1
Tel: (020) 7565 2000. Fax: (020) 7565 2049.
E-mail: info@britishchambers.org.uk
Website: www.britishchambers.org.uk
British-American Chamber of Commerce (USA)
20th Floor, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 661 4060. Fax: (212) 661 4074.
E-mail: info@babinc.org
Website: www.babinc.org or www.babc.org
British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce (Canada)
Suite 4214, 2025 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario M2J 1V6
Tel: (416) 502 0847. Fax: (416) 502 9319.
E-mail: central@bcctc.ca
Website: www.bcctc.ca
Australian British Chamber of Commerce (Australia)
Level 16, Gateway Building, 1 Maquarie Place, Sydney, NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9221 0355. Fax: (02) 9221 0116.
E-mail: abcc@britishchamber.com
Website: www.britishchamber.com
Business centres
Bankside Business Centre
Bankside House, 107/112 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AH
Tel: (020) 7891 2400. Fax: (020) 7891 2401.
E-mail: businesscentre@banksidebc.co.uk
Website: www.banksidebc.com
Located in the heart of the city, Bankside is open 24 hours for video conferencing, internet access, meeting rooms, office support services and personalised telephone answering services.
The Virtual Office
211 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HF
Tel: (020) 7917 2917. Fax: (020) 7439 0262.
E-mail: info@voffice.com
Website: www.voffice.com
The Virtual Office offers meeting rooms, office space, mail-forwarding services, video conferencing, personalised telephone answering services, secretarial support, and computer hire and training.
Business libraries
Business Information Service
British Library, Science Business Section, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
Tel: (020) 7412 7454. Fax (020) 7412 7453.
E-mail: business-information@bl.uk
Website: www.bl.uk
This has the most comprehensive collection of business information in the UK. However, (academic or business) proof of address and purpose will be required to gain admission.
London Chamber of Commerce & Industry
33 Queen Street, London EC4R 1AP
Tel: (020) 7248 4444. Fax: (020) 7489 0391.
E-mail: lc@londonchamber.co.uk
Website: www.londonchamber.co.uk
The reference library is open to members and visitors from overseas.
City Business Library
1 Brewers Hall Garden, London EC2V 5BX
Tel: (020) 7332 1812. Fax: (020) 7332 1847.
The general public has free access to this library’s range of business reference materials.
Convention and meeting planner
London Tourist Board & Convention Bureau
Glen House, Stag Place, London SW1E 5LT
Tel: (020) 7932 2000. Fax: (020) 7932 0222.
Website: www.londontown.com/directory/conventions.phtml
The LTB will provide advice on the organisation of exhibitions and conventions.
Convention and meeting venues
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
Broad Sanctuary, London SW1P 3EE
Tel: (020) 7222 5000. Fax: (020) 7798 4200.
E-mail: info@qeiicc.co.uk
Website: www.qeiicc.co.uk
This purpose-built centre offers some of the best conference facilities in the UK.
New Connaught Rooms
61-65 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5DA
Tel: (020) 7405 7811. Fax: (020) 7831 1851.
E-mail: admin@connaught.u-net.com
This elegant venue in the heart of Covent Garden has 29 function rooms (with capacity for ten to 750 people) and technical equipment ranging from video-conferencing to ISDN lines. Events are supported by a team of experts.
London Chamber of Commerce & Industry
33 Queen Street, London EC4R 1AP
Tel: (020) 7248 4444. Fax: (020) 7489 0391.
E-mail: facs@londonchamber.co.uk
Website: www.londonchamber.co.uk
The headquarters on Queen Street have venues ranging from conference and training suites to board and meeting rooms. Facilities are supported on request by photocopying, fax, word processing and translation services.
Office equipment hire
Knightsbridge Office Services Ltd
229 Acton Lane, London W4 5DD
Tel: (020) 8995 3232. Fax: (020) 8995 2144.
Website: www.kos-hire.co.uk
Secretarial service
Reed Employment Staff Agency
143 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5NH
Tel: (020) 7834 1801. Fax: (020) 7821 5593.
Website: www.reed.co.uk
The agency supplies secretarial, IT and accounting staff to registered companies.
Translation service
1st Translation Company UK
The International Translation Centre, Gresham House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN
Tel: (020) 7329 0032. Fax: (020) 7329 0035.
E-mail: welcome@1st-translate-co.com
Unusual conference venue
London Aquarium
County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB
Tel: (020) 7967 8000. Fax: (020) 7967 8029.
E-mail: info@londonaquarium.co.uk
Website: www.londonaquarium.co.uk
For corporate entertainment surrounded by the fishes.
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