BusinessLDN (spoken as Business London) is a

not for profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

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. 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, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

. 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 volunteers and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. Topics of presentations and discussions include Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, other wikis, open-source software, ...

Leadership

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

Leadership Team

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

Board

The current chair is Paul Drechsler CBE who was appointed in May 2018. In October 2022, the organisation announced that Paul Dreschler CBE will be succeeded by Sir Kenneth Olisa 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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

forced an increase in

remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, w ...

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