The 694th Lord Mayor of the City of London will call for more to be done to attract high-growth companies to the City, in a set-piece speech at Guildhall attended by business and political leaders including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Speaking at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet tonight (Monday 28 November), Nicholas Lyons will highlight the need for regulatory reform and the removal of ‘structural obstacles’ to growth in sectors such as fintech.
Lord Mayor Nicholas Lyons will say (please check against delivery):
“We need to do more to support the high growth companies that attract talent, grow our economy and will lead this country in future wealth creation – at every stage of their development. To back our science and tech sectors who are so vital for the growth economy.
“We have so much going for us – seven of the world’s top 20 universities, the biggest number of fintech companies and unicorns in Europe by far.
“But businesses, intellectual property and people are leaving our shores, as they are being acquired by the world’s most sophisticated and well-capitalised asset owners in other global centres such as New York.
“We need our British-grown companies to list here in London, while continuing to attract innovative businesses from all over the world.
“We need to send them a message that we are serious about wanting them here, and fight to retain them as they do in other jurisdictions.”
The Lord Mayor will also call for the setting up of a UK Growth Fund to invest in long-term asset classes, enabling investment in infrastructure, the growth economy and the transition to net zero.
The Lord Mayor will call on the financial and professional services industries to play their part in helping people through the cost-of living crisis by providing affordable credit, debt repayment deferrals and premium waivers on their insurance policies.
To this end, he will also announce the convening of a financial inclusion summit to develop a co-ordinated plan on how the City can help to tackle societal inequality.
The Lord Mayor’s Banquet will also feature a keynote speech on international affairs by the Prime Minister and speeches from Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
