The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced a series of new business support services to help companies in London high-growth sectors, create the jobs of tomorrow for Londoners.
Delivered by the Mayor’s business growth agency, London & Partners, the ‘Grow London’ service will help London and international companies to expand their businesses and support London’s economic growth.
The services delivered by London & Partners will include programmes for ambitious London start-ups, an export programme for scale-ups looking to grow overseas and a ground-breaking Innovation Fellowship programme. Additional support will also be targeted at helping international businesses expand into London by leveraging London & Partners overseas offices in the US, Europe, India and China.
‘Grow London’ will be unveiled this evening by the Mayor at a reception with business leaders and entrepreneurs in central London. Sadiq will emphasise the need for renewed support for London’s business community in light of cost-of-living challenges and ongoing recovery from the pandemic. He will call on business leaders, policy makers and entrepreneurs to work together to ensure that London remains a top hub for innovation and business on the global stage.
London’s business ecosystem remains resilient despite a challenging economic environment with new research revealing that London has retained its crown as the start-up capital of Britain. According to the annual Venture Forward report from GoDaddy, which analyses the concentration of microbusinesses and SMEs across the UK,18 of the top 20 constituencies for start-ups can be found in the capital.
Additional findings from the report shows that London’s SME community is the most diverse of anywhere in Britain. Half (49%) of Britain’s black SME owners live in London, while it is home to 40% of Asian entrepreneurs. London is also home to a quarter (24%) of Gen Z entrepreneurs, more than any other region the country.
The cost-of-living crisis is a top concern for London businesses, with the research showing that more than three quarters (76%) of the capital’s entrepreneurs saying it’s been the most challenging time they’ve known, while one in five (21%) are confident in the UK economy as a whole.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said:“The launch of Grow London is a major boost for London’s entrepreneurs and growth businesses.
“With a challenging global economic environment and the cost-of-living crisis, it’s important that we continue to support our city’s businesses to reach their full potential, create additional jobs and build a more prosperous city for all Londoners. That’s why I set out an ambition to create the most advanced and integrated business support offer that London has seen.
“Our city is home to some of the world’s most exciting companies and this new range of programmes, delivered by London & Partners, to help start-ups and scale-ups grow will help to ensure that our city continues to provide our innovators the support they need and to attract talent from around the world.”
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