The City of London Corporation’s Policy Chairman, Chris Hayward, will tonight (8 February) highlight the need for the UK to ensure its future competitiveness by transforming into a “one-stop shop” for green services, expertise and capital.

Speaking to an audience of senior business leaders and politicians, including City Minister Andrew Griffith MP, the Policy Chairman will also announce the City Corporation, with the support of leading figures across financial and professional services industry, will be spearheading a new evidence-based vision that will support the City’s competitiveness and drive economic growth over the next decade.

A key strand of the programme will be to champion the City’s role in the net-zero transition, unlocking investment and pinpointing competitive strengths where the UK can outrival other global financial centres.

An extract from the Policy Chairman’s speech is found below. Please check against delivery.

“The UK stands at a crossroads. Faced with increasing global competition, we need a long-term sense of direction, a programme for government, regulators, and industry to act and sustain our global powerhouse status.

“As a country we need a renewed focus, adjust our compass, to be the destination that incentivises investment, thrives with talent, and commands the competition. And we need ambition and focus to achieve these goals.

“Co-chaired by the Lord Mayor and myself, the City Corporation is developing a ground-breaking framework for growth – an industry-led vision for what financial, insurance, and professional services will look like by 2030 and beyond. Together, we want to present an ambitious but practical vision of the sector’s future success.

“Using robust evidence and research, we will make recommendations for regulatory reform in UK financial and professional services, focusing on tech and innovation, sustainable finance, a competitive marketplace, and international policy and promotion.

“In short, putting global competitiveness at the heart of everything we do. Work on this initiative has already begun, and I look forward to sharing more details over the coming months.

“We believe that this vision will drive economic growth for the remainder of the decade and beyond, will pave a path to prosperity for decades to come, and will secure the UK’s position as the leading financial capital for the next generation.

“Indeed, our leadership on net zero is another opportunity for us to unlock our future prosperity for growth. Chris Skidmore’s recent review described net zero as the ‘growth opportunity of the twenty-first century’, worth up to one-trillion pounds to UK businesses by 2030.

“At the City Corporation, we want to harness this opportunity and position the UK as a one-stop shop; the go-to partner for countries and companies looking for capital and expertise as they transition to net zero.

“But the courage to change is reliant on three factors. Firstly, we need to reduce frictions. That means strengthening UK policy and regulation with an effective and coherent sustainable finance framework. Secondly, we need to nurture innovation. More creativity in the market will inspire better products, which will help attract capital, firms, and customers. And thirdly, we need to retain size and scale of talent. Encouraging firms to prioritise skills to enable proper engagement with sustainable growth markets.”

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith said:​ 

“I fully support the vision for financial services outlined by the City of London.

“This vision aligns with our Edinburgh reforms which take forward the government’s ambition to be the world’s most innovative, open and competitive financial centre.”