Celebrating continued Chinese investment into London at Shanghai Expo

We’ve just got back from Shanghai. Not only have we been able to meet with some amazing Chinese companies who are interested in setting up business in London, but we have also been able to experience the wonder that is a World Expo.

Shanghai really has pulled out all the stops to make the Expo in Shanghai a World wonder. From the China pavilion, named ‘The Crown of the East’ with its distinctive roof made of traditional dougong or brackets, which date back more than 2,000 years; the French Pavilion known as ‘The Sensual City’ which is clad in a trellis-like structure and features a garden inside with plants growing on the walls – it is designed to showcase the sights, smells, tastes, sounds and feel of France; the Danish Pavilion is a big loop on which visitors ride around on one of the 1,500 bikes available at the entrance, a chance to experience the Danish urban way; and of course the UK Pavilion called the ‘Seed Cathedral’ created by the UK’s leading creative talent Thomas Heatherwick and displaying 60,000 seeds from London’s famous Kew Gardens in slender optical strands.

Our London consultants met with businesses from a range of sectors who wanted to discuss the business development opportunities available in London and how they could go about expanding business in London.

From London commercial property, to London recruitment services to the 2012 Games we talked to companies about what London had to offer.

Our latest Annual results for 2009-10 showed that China is now the second largest investor into London adding real value to the London economy and creating new jobs for the capital.

5 Reasons why companies are continuing to invest in London:

1) Market and business development opportunity - fast-track access to some of the world’s largest markets, be they in London, the UK, Europe, the Middle East or Africa.
2) Open for business - The most welcoming and flexible commercial environment in Europe
3) Talent - Europe’s best city for breadth and depth of skills and access to London recruitment services
4) Connections - The best city in Europe for both physical and digital connectivity
5) Cosmopolitan lifestyle – a first-rate cultural and social environment in which to live and work, and then of course the excitement of the 2012 Games.

Over the coming months our London consultants will continue to work with the companies we met whilst in Shanghai to walk them through the process of expanding business in London and ensuring the new venture is a success for them and for London.