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LCCI Launches flagship Choose LDN. Campaign

Wednesday 2 September 2026 

Back London’s young workers at the Budget or risk UK-wide growth, warn business leaders

  • 70% of young people across the UK say career opportunities are better in London than elsewhere, while just 11% say they are better outside it.
  • 79% of young people working in London see a clear career benefit from working here, and 82% of young Londoners say career opportunities are better in the capital – but only 60% see their long-term future in London.
  • 74% of business leaders say the cost of housing is limiting their ability to recruit and retain staff.
  • Being able to afford property in the next 10 years is the number one thing that would attract young people to move to London (30%), ahead of better pay (25%) and a job in their field (20%).

London businesses are urging the new Prime Minister not to make London less internationally competitive in the upcoming Budget,10 Year Plan for Britain and devolution white paper, amid concern that “growth in every postcode” cannot be delivered without growth in London. The capital is the economic powerhouse of the UK and its biggest draw for young people seeking work, but affordability of housing and lack of future infrastructure investment is threatening firms’ ability to attract talent and generate tax revenue which benefits public services across the entire country.

New polling commissioned exclusively for the launch of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (LCCI) new Choose LDN. campaign shows that London’s housing affordability crisis is threatening Britain’s talent pipeline, with 74% of London business leaders saying the cost of housing is damaging their ability to recruit and retain staff. With London accounting for nearly a quarter of UK economic output, LCCI, the voice of London’s business community with a business network of more than 12,000, warns that losing the next generation of talent will weaken the capital’s competitiveness with other international cities, putting jobs, investment and growth across Britain at risk.

The warning comes as 70% of young people say they think career opportunities are better in London, but 58% of those pursuing a career outside the capital believe London is too expensive to live or work in. Outside London, 28% of young people surveyed already own a suitable home. In London, that figure is just 13%. This gap between young people’s ambition and what they can afford is deeply concerning when almost one million young people are not in work or education.

Among those currently working in London, the capital is still a major draw. 81% say they are happy working in London and 79% see a clear career benefit from being based there, highlighting the gap between London’s appeal as a place to build a career and the affordability barriers preventing young people from choosing it. Of those currently living in London, only 60% see their long-term future in the capital – essential young talent that both London and the country cannot afford to lose.

With London accounting for nearly a quarter of UK economic output and a third of its corporation tax, and London and the south east paying 45% of England’s income tax, the capital’s ability to attract talent, and therefore investment, is crucial to the Prime Minister’s promise of achieving growth in every postcode. The forthcoming Budget, devolution white paper and Prime Minister’s 10 Year Plan for Britain must be used as opportunities to actively increase London's international competitiveness in order to drive UK-wide growth. If these moments are used to make London less attractive to international businesses, this will damage the country's growth prospects.

To close this gap, LCCI is calling on the government to make London a place where young people can afford to build their futures, and where businesses can access the talent they need to grow. At a time when the political focus is moving away from London and the South East, LCCI argues the whole country has a stake in London’s ability to attract international investment. London ran a £43.6 billion net fiscal surplus in 2022/23, the latest year for which figures are available, meaning London generates tens of billions more tax revenue than is spent on the city.

In order to make London more competitive, LCCI’s Choose LDN. campaign calls on the government to:

  •  Reverse the previous Chancellor’s increase in employer National Insurance contributions.
  • Get a pragmatic new deal with the EU over the line.
  • Reduce the cost of the planning system and support first-time buyers, making London housebuilding and homeownership viable again.
  • Restore VAT-free shopping to pull international tourists back from our international competitors.
  • Reverse changes to the non-dom regime to attract wealth creators back to the UK.
  • Designate King’s Cross as an AI Investment Zone to defend London’s place as the tech hub of Europe.
  • Deliver airport expansion at Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton to add billions of pounds to the UK economy and support tens of thousands of jobs across the country, powered by private investment.
  • Back the Bakerloo line extension, support the DLR extension to Thamesmead, and restart work on the next Elizabeth Line, Crossrail 2, to unlock thousands of homes, create skilled jobs across the country and generate hundreds of millions of pounds in tax receipts. The success of the Elizabeth line, worth £42 billion to the UK economy and funded using an innovative mix of public and private investment, should be used as the model for future infrastructure projects.

Karim Fatehi OBE, CEO of LCCI, said:

“Thriving economies treat the success of their capital cities as national policy issues and build a consensus around their capital succeeding, whether you live there or not. If the Prime Minister is to meet his promise to deliver growth in every postcode, we must now do the same for London.

That’s why we’ve launched our new flagship Choose LDN. campaign, putting LCCI and our members at the heart of the national debate on driving prosperity in every part of the country. These survey results show London is seen as the major global financial hub that it is, but we must actively decide to make the city more competitive than our international rivals in order to achieve UK-wide growth. That includes making London housebuilding and infrastructure viable again, giving young talent the opportunity to own their home and their own stake in the best city in the world.

We know the investment London misses out on does not go to another UK town or city, it moves to Paris, Frankfurt, Dubai or Singapore. Our rivals are not our fellow towns and cities. Our rivals are capital

cities across the world. Whether you live in London or Leeds, Leicester or Liverpool, the success of our capital matters for jobs and funding for public services in every single part of the country. When London succeeds, the whole country succeeds.”

Julia Onslow-Cole, Chair of LCCI, commented on the campaign:

“As Chair of the Board, I am proud to see the Chamber launch its new flagship campaign, Choose LDN. This is a positive, ambitious and timely campaign to help the Chamber deliver the strongest possible voice on behalf of members, at a time when our advocacy efforts have never been more important. Making our capital city as attractive as possible for investment, job creation and growth helps to deliver prosperity across the whole country.”

Professor Michael Mainelli, President of LCCI, added:

“London’s success is not a London issue; it is a UK, even global, issue. As Lord Mayor of London 2023-2024, I positioned London as The World’s Coffee House. Naturally, I strongly support Choose LDN. because it makes the same simple but important point: London’s global competitiveness is something we can choose to strengthen. We should choose investment, choose talent, choose innovation, and choose growth. Our international rivals are not standing still, and neither can we. If we make London the most attractive city in the world to do business, the benefits will reach far beyond the capital. When the world chooses London, the whole country succeeds.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

About the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)
LCCI is London’s hub for the business community with a 12,000 strong business network of SMEs and microbusinesses, major corporations and cultural and educational institutions. Founded in 1881 to represent London businesses and promote international trade, we support our members to drive growth and prosperity across the UK and internationally.

About Choose LDN.
Choose LDN. is LCCI’s flagship advocacy campaign, providing an umbrella for the Chamber’s proactive policy and public affairs work. The campaign makes the case for London to be the most attractive city in the world to do business, compete for global investment and attract talent. The campaign is built around four priorities: making London the most attractive global city to do business in; winning the global investment competition; getting London building; and repairing the social contract by ensuring young people can access jobs, skills, housing and opportunities to build successful futures. Choose LDN. makes the case that London’s competitiveness is a national priority. The investment and talent London attracts benefits businesses, jobs and communities across the UK, because when London succeeds, the whole country succeeds.

About the LCCI Business and Youth Employment Surveys
LCCI commissioned two YouGov surveys to provide insight into the experiences and views of young people and employers in the UK. The Youth Employment Survey surveyed 1,039 UK adults aged 24–35, with fieldwork conducted online between 12 and 25 August 2026, after the change in Prime Minister. The figures have been weighted and are representative of UK 24–35-year-olds. The Business Survey surveyed 509 employers in the UK, with fieldwork also conducted online between 12 and 25 August 2026. The figures have been weighted and are representative of employers in the UK.

Both surveys were conducted online among members of the YouGov Plc UK panel, which comprises more than 2.5 million individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys. Panellists are selected at random from the relevant base sample and invited to participate by email. Responding samples are weighted to the profile of the relevant sample definition to provide representative reporting samples, with profiles normally derived from census data or, where census data is unavailable, industry-accepted data.


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