Mayor Sadiq Khan packed a lot into his autumn visit to New York to promote London as a leading destination for business, tourism and sport

During his trip the Mayor met with business leaders from Accordion, the world’s leading advisory and tech platform for the private equity market who have announced they will be opening an office in London. He also met with leaders from CliftonLarsenAllen, a major US accountancy firm who have acquired the London-based AI and analytics platform Engine and will launch their international brand CLA Global in London to run all their activities outside North America.

Investment
In a further boost to the capital, Constant Contact, an adtech company have opened an office in Marylebone – and Thoropass, a compliance and audit platform from NYC is gearing to set up in the city. This follows the recent Salesforce announcement of a $4 billion investment in the UK including a new office in Southwark.

Perhaps the Mayor’s biggest coup though was the announcement during the trip that the Concordia Europe Summit will be held in London in spring 2025. This will bring together hundreds of global, regional and national policymakers to showcase investment and partnership opportunities across the capital.

Climate crisis
Khan was in New York both in his capacity as Mayor of London and also as chair of C40 Cities – a global network of 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis. The timing of the visit coincided with a United Nations General Assembly meeting which had tackling climate change on the agenda.

London faces stiff competition but remains the leading location globally for US businesses looking to expand overseas. Last year saw New York invest $1.7 billion into London climate start-ups and climate-focused companies, with the capital the top city for foreign direct investment from the US over the last 10 years, when compared to all other cities globally. Around 3.5 million visits were made between the US and London in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 12 per cent.

Transformation
Mayor Khan also took the opportunity to visit Times Square to see first-hand how the New York landmark could provide inspiration for the future regeneration of Oxford Street – see page 12 of the magazine for the plans for this. He was briefed by Janette Sadik-Khan, the former NYC Department of Transport Commissioner (pictured with the Mayor) who led the transformation of New York’s public realm through various pedestrianisation and improvement schemes.

www.london.gov.uk

Photo of the Mayor and Janette Sadik-Khan, former NYC Transport Commissioner: Greater London Authority / Caroline Teo