ProBogotá: some thoughts from London John Dickie, Director of Strategy and Policy

1. ProBogotá: some thoughts from London
John Dickie, Director of Strategy and Policy

2. Overview
London as a world city
London First’s origins
London First’s mission
How London First works
What London First does

5. London’s population

6. Canary wharf in the 1980s…

7. City starting to recover…

8. …and regenerate

9. …Canary Wharf now

10. Overview
London as a world city
London First’s origins
London First’s mission
How London First works
What London First does

11. London First’s origins
Founded in 1992.
Leadership/ seed funding from a small
number of committed business leaders.
Business membership organisation.
Not-for profit.

12. Overview
London as a world city
London First’s origins
London First’s mission
How London First works
What London First does

13. London First’s mission
To make London the best city in the world
in which to do business.

14. Overview
London as a world city
London First’s origins
London First’s mission
How London First works
What London First does

15. Our Partners

16. Some of our members

17. How London First works
Members provide (virtually) all our funding.
They elect a board which sets our strategy.
Staff do the work, drawing on member
expertise.

18. How London First works
Why join?
• Thought leadership and advocacy;
• Insight;
• Profile; and
• Networking.

19. How London First works
How do we provide?

20. How London First works
How do we know?
• Account management;
• Regular engagement; and
• Regular surveys.

21. How London First works
How do we manage conflict?
• Carefully – in keeping with our mission;
• Demand side focused; and
• Prepared to lose members to have the right
position – not lowest common denominator.

22. How London First works
How do we deal with government?
• Apolitical locally and nationally;
• Usually collaborative – but sometimes
adversarial; and
• Always independent.

23. Overview
London as a world city
London First’s origins
London First’s mission
How London First works
What London First does

24. What matters?
The drivers of London’s competitiveness
Soft infrastructure Hard infrastructure Governance
Education
• Private school provision
• Education for Londoners:
basic maths, science,
literacy
• HE/FE for Londoners to give
higher qualifications/
competencies
Transport
• Global connectivity:
destinations and frequency
• Public transport: coverage,
reliability & cost
• Surface transport: congestion
General Infrastructure
• Energy
• Water
• Waste
• Telecommunications
Security
• Personal safety
• Civil unrest
• Terrorism
• Cyber security
Physical environment
• Natural disaster risk --
flooding
• Air pollution
Social cohesion
• Redistribution (cash; services
cf education above)
Cost:
Liveability
• Open, liberal &
tolerant
• Opportunity
• Leisure, arts &
entertainment
• Quality of built
environment & public
realm
Healthcare
• Private healthcare
• General quality/access of
public healthcare
Political environment
• Stability & rule of law
• Regulation
• London governance
• London and the rest
of the UK (and EU)
Free movement
• Of goods, services,
capital & people
• Risks to single market
Quality of life
KEY FACTORS
FIRM STRATEGY,
STRUCTURE & RIVALRY
No analysis
DEMAND CONDITIONS
Ease of doing business in London
-- further work required
Regulation as a source of competitive
advantage for London businesses
-- further work required
RELATED & SUPPORTING
INDUSTRIES
Agglomeration benefits
• HE sector (supports whole range of clusters
across London economy - R&D, innovation,
talent pool).
• Financial services – supports economy through
access to competitive & innovative finance
(and as a driver of wider professional services)
• Creative industries
• query TMT; see the results from the LF study
next year
Economy
Economy
• Size/growth
• Mix
• Number of leading FTSE
companies
• Trajectory
• Distribution
Overall cost of business/living
• Housing
• Office space
• Taxes
Original long list

25. Eight drivers
1. Airport capacity/services to provide London businesses with better
resilience and more connectivity.
2. Transport infrastructure and services to enable business and
employees to move around London efficiently.
3. London has a world class built environment/wider infrastructure.
4. The housing to support growth.
9. London’s employers are able to recruit the workforces they need at all
levels.
10. London has one of the most stable and competitive tax regimes in the
world
11. A business-led London economic development strategy.
12. London government having the powers, resources and competences
necessary to run London and support the city’s growth.

26. Driving the drivers: business thought
leadership
• Establish cross-cutting member groups to drive business solutions to
London’s problems.
• Typically a dozen or so business leaders from a range of sectors.
• Sometimes working closely with parts of government; sometimes not.
• Draw expertise from members (either pro-bono or paid)

27. Driving the drivers: working with
London Government
• London First is working with London Government to create a private
sector led-economic development plan for London.
• The Plan’s objectives for London to 2036 are to maximise:
• economic growth (GVA);
• jobs, across the skills and income spectrum; and
• economic resilience, i.e. a diversification of sectors and competitive
strengths.
• London First is project managing, and largely funding this work on behalf
of the Mayor’s economic development partnership, with McKinsey
providing the supporting analysis.

28. Driving the drivers: lobbying central
government
• London First has established a lobby group Let Britain Fly to build broad
support for runway expansion in London.

29. Driving the drivers: holding the ring
• Ten years ago London First was campaigning for a new east west railway
in London – Crossrail – to be built.
• The plan was not contentious – but very expensive: £15bn.
• London First kept public pressure on central government to provide
funding: and also legitimacy for business providing funding (roughly a
third of the project comes from new property taxes levied on London
businesses).

30. Overview
27 existing surface stations upgraded
(11 major reconstructions)
8 sub-surface stations
42 km new sub-surface railway
66km of track work