Parliamentarians call for action to support London’s arts, business and consumer events

The All Party Parliamentary Group on London as a Global City launched its report calling for action from all decision makers to support the capital’s arts, business and consumer events.

The report, entitled Global London: Enhancing the role of business and consumer events for London and the United Kingdom, states that London’s business and consumer events and arts are key to the success of the country:

From trade shows to Taylor Swift, the events and music venues sectors are critical for providing jobs and economic growth across the capital. This in turn levers in income for the United Kingdom via increased tax revenue and visitor numbers – with London being the gateway to the UK.

However, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on London as a Global City has found that despite London’s international success – such as being the most googled city anywhere in the world – there are emerging challenges which must be addressed to ensure that London not only retains its number one status but can grow and help with the levelling up of the country as a whole.

The APPG expressed concern that London’s standing as a leading destination to hold international exhibitions had been impacted post Brexit. In 2015, London was the 5th most attractive city for conferences and events. In 2022, London slipped to 15th place … This is a significant decline in rankings which must be addressed through proactive initiatives to support this industry.

The APPG proposed a series of recommendations to ensure London remains the global centre for exhibitions and the arts including:

• Reducing barriers to visas for tourists and businesspeople.

• Securing funding for the arts

• Making the temporary movement of goods a frictionless environment for contractors servicing business and consumer events and the arts.

• Ending the regulatory ambiguity on VAT for overseas exhibitors and contractors.

London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s interim chief executive, Karim Fatehi MBE said: “This is a critical report to ensure that London remains as the global number one centre for business. We cannot be complacent about our city’s status. This report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on London as a Global City needs to be acted on so that jobs and business growth can be maintained in the capital”.

ExCeL London’s chief executive officer Jeremy Rees added: “There is a huge choice available to organisers to locate their events. We must actively and intentionally set out London’s stall to ensure we remain the most attractive city to compete for a slice of the £1 trn global business events’ industry.

“Our most recent £220m investment to extend our convention centre is testament to our commitment to hosting world class events in what we believe to be the world’s best city.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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