Services and finance in London

(The Bank of England, central bank of the United Kingdom)

Approximately 85% of the population of Greater London (3.2 million people) work in the service sector. 500,000 people work in industry and construction (in equal proportions).

London has five major business centers: the City, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Camden & Islington and Lambeth & Southwark.

• Business district
  • Office Area (m²)
  • Industry
• City
  • 7740000
  • Finance, brokerage, insurance, law
• Westminster
  • 5780000
  • Headquarters, real estate, banking, hedge fund administration
• Camden & Islington
  • 2294000
  • Finance, artistic creativity, fashion, architecture
• Canary Wharf
  • 2120000
  • Banking, media, legal service
• Lambeth & Southwark
  • 1780000
  • Accounting, consulting company, local government

The main economic activity in London is the financial sector whose financial exports (that is to say, the business services provided by London firms to foreign companies in the financial services sector (regardless of property)) contribute significantly to the balance of payments of the United Kingdom. Approximately 300,000 people work in the finance sector in London which houses more than 480 banks, more than any other city in the world. Every year, it invests more money in London than in the following 10 European cities together. The City is the largest business center in Europe and competition increasingly New York, especially because of Sarbanes-Oxley that increase accounting requirements for companies listed on the stock market on Wall Street. In a recent study published by MasterCard, London surpasses New York in four of six fields of study whose economic stability, ease of doing business and the volume of financial flows. The Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, said that New York could lose its status as a financial capital of the world for the benefit of London because of law and control systems and less stringent immigration of UK.

A second financial center develops in Canary Wharf, east of the City, and in the headquarters of HSBC and Barclays banks, the Reuters agency and many of the largest law firms in the world. In 2005, London has treated 31% of transactions in the foreign exchange market and treats dailyabout 753 billion dollars, more than New York.

More than half of the top 100 UK companies (FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies have their headquarters in London. Over 70% of FTSE 100 companies are headquartered in the metropolitan area of London and 75% of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London.

The media are particularly concentrated in London and the distribution of media industry is the second most competitive sector. The BBC is a key employer in the city while many other media have their headquarters in London. Many national newspapers are edited in the city and have long been associated with Fleet Street in the City. Soho is the heart of the post-production industry.

The Port of London was the largest in the world but now comes in third position in the United Kingdom. 50 million tons of cargo pass each year. However, most of these goods pass through Tilbury which is outside the boundaries of Greater London.

Translated from Wikipedia