By Simon R. Bone
The City of London (not to be confused with London itself) is an area of roughly a square mile set centrally within the capital and which today serves as the main business and financial heart of the United Kingdom and to some extent Europe as a whole.
As with other global financial centres the city is extremely proactive in promoting itself and the HKS European Club were lucky enough to have Director of Public Relations Tony Halmos join them for a presentation and Q&Q session.
Mr Halmos explained that even in this time of” Banker-Bashing” the great importance of the City now accounts for 5% of national GDP (and 20% of London’s). He also explained its unique historic independent status within a country which is one of the most centralised in Europe.
However he also highlighted the future problems, of being reliant on finance to too much of a degree, despite London being a world centre of creative industries and addressed the threat coming both from other financial centres (New York, Hong Jong, Singapore) as well as increased EU regulation.
Ultimately his opinion is that more should be done not just within Brussels but also in other European capitals to lobby hard to ensure The City does not lose his premier status. Though a combination of language, time-zone, contract law, low corruption and simply being a nice place to be he hoped would ensure continued growth.
For more information on the City of London please visit http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk