Business Profile
With an annual GDP larger than many small countries, the City of London is the epicentre of British financial life and one of the world’s great financial centres. Employing around a third of the Greater London workforce and 75% of the 300,000 employees in the City of London, financial and business services are the key to London’s success. As the world’s leading international financial centre, the City of London boasts an unrivalled variety and concentration of banks, insurance companies and other
business services. Unemployment in Greater London is low at 4.2% (May 2001) compared to a national average of 5% (July 2001). Over the last few years, the British government has delegated greater responsibility to the Bank of England ( website: www.bankofengland.co.uk ) and the London Stock Exchange ( website: www.londonstockexchange.com ) has floated itself.

Beyond the financial heart of London law, computing, design, media, arts and fashion are also booming. The list of companies based in London is almost endless as most major international companies have offices here, including IBM, Sun Microsystems and Warburgs. London in the 1980s and 1990s saw a decline in production and manufacturing jobs and a growth in the service sector. Nevertheless, the manufacturing sector has an annual output of over 12 billion Pounds, employs 10% of the capital’s
workforce and has a productivity rate 26% higher than the national average. Strength lies in modern product-based manufacturing – specialist firms producing niche products – and high-tech companies. Tourism is also big business but has recently been hit by the ‘Foot and Mouth’ crisis, the strength of
the British Pound and the aftermath of the terrorist bombings in New York. The capital’s economic achievements are balanced by some less-than-favourable characteristics – premium office space is expensive and in short supply and the service sector suffers from a skills shortage. New light industry parks have sprung up out of town, although many businesses (such as computing) still cluster around the financial district, the City. For the more fashionable industries, such as media and design, a Soho address (in the West End) is the most sought after. For years the authorities have pushed the Docklands area, to the east of the city centre, as a business alternative to the overcrowded ‘City’. The centrepiece Canary Wharf, Britain’s tallest buiding, for years struggled with low occupancy and debs – many businesses were put off the Docklands by the lack of good transport links. Over the last few years, however, the Docklands has come of age and the area is now a credible and popular business location with better transport (the new Jubilee Line extension), improved links and modern office complexes
springing up.

There are numerous Internet cafes around London, with the massive Easynet cafes at Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square, Tottenham Court Road and Victoria, all of which offer cheap and fast Internet access.

Business Etiquette
Business hours are officially 0900 or 0930 until 1700 or 1730, although in practice many companies have much longer hours. Business in London is intense and fast paced. Extended business lunches and post-work drinks were regarded as part of the modern working environment until relatively recently.
Nowadays the emphasis is increasingly on hard work and long hours. Some older establishments may be strictly formal, however, meetings are (as a rule) relatively relaxed and first names are often used after the initial introduction. However, British businesspeople are unlikely to be overtly demonstrative –
hand gestures and the use of expressive body language will be minimal and apart from shaking hands, physical contact should be avoided. Standard dress code is a suit and tie for men and a suit (or equivalent) for women but varies greatly depending on the company, with those in the new technologies sectors especially tending towards informality.