Miles' blog - March 2026

It has been a brisk opening to the year. Across our programme, there has been no shortage of activity and, more importantly, delivery. 

At the end of January we published a landmark report with PwC, informed by the views of more than 300 senior figures from industry, government, the regulators and academia. This represents one of the largest listening exercises ever carried out by our industry. No time to lose: Reasserting UK leadership in financial and related professional services sets out a clear and practical agenda to secure the UK’s position as a pre-eminent international financial centre. The prize is tangible: an estimated £53bn in additional annual economic output by 2035, alongside the sector’s continued capacity to underpin growth and advance national priorities. 

Engagement since publication has been highly encouraging. The launch event, attended by Lucy Rigby KC MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, brought together voices from across government, the Opposition and the regulatory community. The report’s recommendations are already informing the work of the APPG on Financial Markets and Services under Sir Jeremy Hunt, and we will continue to press ahead with their implementation in the months to come. 

The report featured prominently in discussions during my recent visit to Guernsey and Jersey with Darren Ketteringham of PwC. The trip provided a valuable opportunity to meet stakeholders and to launch our joint report on the Channel Islands’ contribution to UK growth and investment - an illustration of a long-standing and mutually beneficial partnership. I am grateful to the teams at Guernsey Finance and Jersey Finance for a series of constructive conversations on how we can work even more closely to support investment, growth and competitiveness. 

Our Annual Dinner, held in partnership with Sullivan & Cromwell, offered a welcome moment to convene friends and colleagues from across the industry. We were pleased to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, Rt Hon David Lammy MP, as well as Lucy Rigby KC MP, who joined our Chair, Omar Ali CBE, in conversation before an audience of some 300 leaders from business, parliament, the diplomatic community and the media. My thanks to Sullivan & Cromwell and the TheCityUK team for delivering an excellent evening. 

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, we co-hosted a discussion with EY, the Department for Business and Trade, the City of London Corporation and Goals House on how the UK can move further and faster in areas such as technology, data and talent—and strengthen its appeal to international investors. It was heartening to hear the government’s commitment to competitiveness and to advancing its Industrial Strategy. Amid continued global uncertainty, the prevailing sentiment was one of pragmatic optimism. 

That outward-looking focus has continued. In Hong Kong and Jakarta in January, I met senior officials and industry leaders to deepen ties and explore shared priorities. At the Asian Financial Services Forum, we co-hosted a roundtable with the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council, Hong Kong-UK Chamber of Commerce and the China Britain Business Council, chaired by our Chair, to discuss growth opportunities along the Hong Kong–UK corridor and how to sustain private-sector momentum. Meetings with the Financial Services Secretary, Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission ranged across AI, digital finance, sustainability and data flows - issues that will shape the sector’s future. 

In Jakarta, discussions with regulators, government ministers, officials and senior businesspeople centred on market access, Islamic finance and the potential for a UK–Indonesia free trade agreement. A roundtable with BritCham Indonesia underscored both the opportunities and the work still to be done. We will now focus on converting dialogue into progress. 

A similarly full agenda took me to Paris and Brussels, where conversations with member firms and policymakers addressed regulatory cooperation, cross-border financial flows and the private sector’s role in meeting growing defence-financing needs. In Paris, a roundtable hosted by the British Embassy and chaired by Ashley Alder and Sarah Pritchard of the Financial Conduct Authority examined market access and regulatory challenges in cross-border services. In Brussels, meetings with senior stakeholders highlighted the importance of practical UK–EU cooperation, particularly in the context of Europe’s evolving defence landscape. 

Most recently, I travelled to Washington as part of our work supporting HM Treasury on the UK–US Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future. Discussions with senior representatives from the UK and US Treasuries, alongside industry leaders, focused on capital markets and digital assets, and on how both countries can reinforce their global leadership in these fields.

Closer to home, we launched our new Defence and Resilience Group in response to the government’s Strategic Defence Review. Co-chaired by Joe Cassidy of KPMG and General Sir Richard Barrons, the group will tackle long-standing policy barriers to funding and growth, ensuring that financial and related professional services can support defence capability and national resilience. At its inaugural meeting, Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, reinforced the importance of a strong connection between finance and national security, an argument that bears repeating. 

Looking ahead, preparations are well advanced for our International and Future Skills Conferences. Both are now open for registration and filling quickly; I hope many of you will be able to join us. 

Finally, my warm congratulations to our Chair, Omar Ali of EY, on his CBE in the King’s New Year Honours - well-deserved recognition for a distinguished contribution to the sector. And also to Katharine Braddick, who will soon be taking up her new role as Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation at the Bank of England and Chief Executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority. Katharine has been a terrific member of our board and chair of our Long-Term Competitiveness Group. We wish her all the best in her important new position.