London’s finance industry a ‘jewel in Britain’s crown’ despite concerns over City’s future, Griffith says
City minister Andrew Griffith said the financial services industry was still a “jewel in Britain’s crown that even the doomsters cannot deny” after jobs in the finance sector hit a record high.
Figures out last week showed that the number of jobs in financial services climbed to a record high of 1.2m in the first quarter of this year, 34,000 more than the end of 2022.
Griffith told the Daily Mail: “Our vision for Britain as the most open, innovative and competitive financial centre in the world is bearing fruit”.
The comments come as the government attempts to boost the City’s standing amid growing concerns that its losing its status as a leading financial centre after Brexit.
A number of firms – most prominently the semiconductor firm Arm – have abandoned the capital for listings in other cities around the world. Onerous rules have also been blamed in part for the loss of some of the most high profile IPOs.
The problems are more long standing though, with figures from the UK Listing Review show that listings in the UK have reduced by 40 per cent since 2008.
In response the government has launched a slew of reviews to reinvigorate the City’s capital markets. These include changes to the listing regime and attempts to direct funds from British pension funds into domestic start-ups.
Although Brexit is often blamed for the City’s slump, many of these reforms would have been impossible inside the bloc. Griffith said the reforms show that the UK had “seized the opportunities of Brexit”.