28/10/2010
London ranks highly as a place to work and carry out business, according to the 2010 Global Cities Index.
The index, complied by AT Kearney, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Foreign Policy magazine found that the British capital was a leader in knowledge and cultural diversity, coming a close second to New York.
To compile the list of the world's top cities, researchers studied five factors: business activity, human capital, cultural experience, political engagement and information exchange. Cities like London ranked highly on technology, attracting business from Fortune 500 companies to SME's.
Other cities making up the top ten included Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Hong Kong, with Asian countries making strong headway compared to last year's index.
With London a premier destination to locate a business, many entrepreneurs and SME's are drawn to house their company headquarters in the capital every year. Whilst London isn't the cheapest city in terms of commercial lettings, the benefits of being in the financial heart of the country can provide lucrative revenues. As well as making profits from being amongst a plethora of industry sectors, businesses can also look to sales finance options to free up capital for further expansion or even relocation to the capital.
Cited in HR Magazine, the index reinforces that the major cities of the world are pushing forwards, unhindered by the alarmist worries surrounding the financial downturn.
Sarah Howard