The capital’s local authorities are being urged to make the most of their potential for attracting investment from round the world by a partnership led by the City of London, the Mayor and cross-party body London Councils, known as Opportunity London.
Writing at LinkedIn, recently-appointed Opportunity London chief executive Jace Tyrrell resolved to visit all 32 boroughs and the City of London during 2024 in order to “see and hear first hand what we can promote and feature in our London prospectus to the world” and make an “offer to the global marketplace”.
Tyrrell, who previously led the New West End Company business improvement district (BID), described London as “a city bursting with opportunity across low carbon, real estate, energy and infrastructure” and “on the verge of becoming Europe’s only trillion dollar economy”.
Urging London leaders to “get in touch”, he cites a potential “£100 billion pipeline” of investment from “the world’s institutional investors” attracted by London being “the second most diverse” city in the world, offering “purposeful and long-term sustainable returns” and “an investor’s gateway to the UK”.
The initiative comes amid ongoing concerns about levels of government investment in London’s housing, transport and other infrastructure as the UK’s economy struggles for growth and its public finances remain under pressure. Transport for London was recently awarded only half the amount it had requested for capital spending and the London Assembly has been told of gloomy prospects for housing construction.
Tyrrell’s rallying cry follows a similarly upbeat message for the Opportunity London website, in which he drew on a year’s experience based in Sydney to set out parallels for London with “the level of ambition and investment taking place across the pan-Pacific markets” in green infrastructure, culture and more.
“What excites me most about taking up the helm of Opportunity London is leading a united voice for our great capital city,” he wrote, referring to a “growing cohort of Team London partners”, which includes a number of leading property developers and BIDs. He continued: “We will create and showcase a pipeline of global investment opportunities that will contribute towards a low carbon, equitable and liveable city”.
Last year, Opportunity London’s activities included a reception at the headquarters of New London Architecture following up on the earlier MIPIM property trade fair, and a week-long visit to New York.
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