BusinessLDN (spoken as Business London) is a

not for profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NP ...

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

with a membership composed of leaders of businesses in London, United Kingdom. , it represented around 175 London based businesses. Its stated aim is "to make London the best city in the world in which to do business".

History

London First was established in 1992 to meet a perceived lack of a unitary body to promote London after the dissolution of the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. Its first chair was

Allen Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Didgemere Allen John George Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Didgemere, (25 December 1932 – 25 March 2015) was a British industrialist and Conservative member of the House of Lords. He was educated at Ilford County High School and the London School of Ec ...

. London First has supported plans to provide roofing over major roads in London amongst other transport infrastructure developments, a proposal that was under consideration by then London mayor

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

. It has criticised the Cameron ministry's proposal to require a bond of £ 3 000 for some visitors to the UK. London First was a partner in the 2014 "

Wikimania Wikimania is the Wikimedia movement's annual conference, organized by Wikimedian, volunteers and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. Topics of presentations and discussions include Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, other wikis, open-source ...

". London First was given its present name in July 2022

Leadership

John Dickie was appointed chief executive in May 2021. Its former chief executives were Jasmine Whitbread and Baroness Jo Valentine.

Leadership Team

Sources: * John Dickie - Chief Executive * Muniya Barua - Deputy Chief Executive * Dimitra Christakou - Chief Operating Officer

Board

Sir Kenneth Olisa succeeded Paul Drechsler CBE as Chair in 2023.

Policy Response

In July 2021, London First urged firms to return to the office, after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

forced an increase in

remote work Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from or at home, WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of work (human activity), working at or from one's home or Third place, another space rather than from ...

Rebranding

On 12 July 2022, London First renamed as BusinessLDN (spoken as Business London).

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.businessldn.co.uk/ British lobbyists Business organisations based in London 1992 establishments in England