As we head towards the end of the year, it feels like the right moment to pause and reflect on what has been a fantastic, but incredibly busy, year for the team at TheCityUK, not least the last few months.
Over recent weeks, I’ve travelled to a number of key markets, including Saudi Arabia, Japan, India, Canada and the US, all with a focus on strengthening bilateral industry relations and engagement in key areas of mutual interest. It was great to see such enthusiasm from stakeholders across those markets to engage with the UK.
Our visit to the US offered a timely opportunity for us to build on conversations about how the US and UK can work more effectively together on capital markets and discuss the US-UK Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, which was announced during the US President’s State Visit to the UK September. We have been tasked by the UK and US Treasuries to input UK industry insights into the Taskforce and have been working closely with members to bring that together.
Closer to home, we held our National Conference in Leeds, which ended up falling on the day after the Budget. The timing added an extra layer of energy to the discussions, which were rich and covered a broad range of topics, ranging from driving investment across the UK and the evolving partnership between industry and government bodies across the country, to the role of industry innovation in driving growth and latest perception research of the industry. A huge thank you to our sponsors, Guernsey Finance and Yorkshire Building Society, for helping to make the event possible. If you missed the event, you can watch the highlights here.
While the Budget was a mixed bag for our industry, we did see a few key policy outcomes, not least the introduction of a three-year stamp duty holiday for new listings, which is something we have long advocated for as a measure that should help to strengthen investment in the UK. The additional investment into infrastructure and focus on supporting the delivery of a pipeline of investible projects across the country were also key and in line with the work we’re helping to deliver through the Office for Investment’s Strategic Investment Opportunities Unit, an idea we initiated. Given our industry’s critical enabling role, over the coming months we will continue to work closely with government to unlock faster growth across the country and keep the UK as an attractive destination for businesses and talent to base themselves.
Together with members we’ve been working hard to produce insights and policy asks across a range of critical areas, including our ‘From cash to confidence: Building an investing nation’ report, which explores how to encourage people to invest surplus cash to boost household savings, drive economic growth and build a more resilient society. You can read it here, along with other recent publications, including our latest analysis of the asset management landscape, our review of how to reduce the cost of compliance, produced with PwC, our highly regarded annual legal services report, in partnership with Barclays and our latest consultation responses.
With investment education firmly on the agenda, I wanted to highlight the work of City Pay it Forward - a volunteer-led UK registered charity that delivers free financial education, training and mentorship to young people. By supporting financial literacy from an early age, City Pay it Forward helps build a more financially confident next generation, which complements our broader mission to champion a strong, inclusive financial services sector. You can find out more about their work here.
Looking out to the year ahead, we have some exciting work and activity in the pipeline, some great events in the calendar and much to be done to ensure our industry continues to remain a world-class international financial centre. Our focus is now shifting towards what promises to be a busy 2026, starting with the publication of some key research in January.
