In 2013, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warned of a future in which global banks dominated an ever wealthier City of London with ever-spiralling property prices, served by a “disenfranchised population” commuting in daily from elsewhere. Then came the pandemic. Today, the City is a near-ghost town, its bankers and lawyers working from home offices and attics. To entice them back eventually — at least some of the time — the Square Mile has conjured a vision of a vibrant, diverse future where software designers and artists stroll beside derivatives traders on traffic-free streets. Achieving anything like it will require many stakeholders to work together. But it will strengthen the City’s defences, too, against its other big challenge: Brexit.
How much of its pre-eminence in financial services the City can preserve will depend in part on government trade negotiations with the EU. But the City of London Corporation, which has drawn up its vision for London in 2025 with consultants, is right to highlight the need to create the right environment — regulatory and physical — to hold on to existing businesses and people, and to attract new ones.
There may be scope to harmonise fragmented regulation across the City to streamline requirements and create a “competitive and innovative” business climate. It should not mean excessively light-touch regulation that undermines London’s reputation for good governance. Ideas such as allowing some form of dual class shares to encourage tech start-ups to list in London rather than fleeing elsewhere will need cautious consideration. But creative thinking is certainly needed.