Farebrother/MORI Survey of London Businesses

Q1 Do you think that the economic condition of the country will improve, stay the same, or get worse over the next 12 months?

160	160	General public Greater London Dec 1998
160	%	%
Improve	16	14
Stay the same	33	36
Get worse	44	44
Don't know	7	5
Net improve	-28	-30

Q2 Over the next 12 months, do you think that your organisation's business will improve, stay the same, or get worse?

160	%
Improve	55
Stay the same	31
Get worse	13
Don't know	2
Net improve	+42

Q3 How satisfied or dissatisfied are you overall with London as a place to run a business?

160	%
Very satisfied	22
Fairly satisfied	58
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	10
Fairly dissatisfied	7
Very dissatisfied	3
Don't know	*
Satisfied	80
Dissatisfied	10
Net satisfied	+70

Q4 What, if any, would you say are the main advantages of running a business in London?

160	%
Close to clients/suppliers/support staff	74
Got 'everything you need'	17
Easy to find staff/quality workforce	12
Easy access by road	9
Good communications (home/abroad)	7
Good buses	5
Good tube/underground	5
International status/prestige	4
Recognised financial centre	2
Good wages/high standard of living	1
Good entertainment facilities	1
Good shopping facilities	1
Good schools/childcare facilities	*
Other	8
None	4
Don't know	2
Any transport	13

Q5 And what, if any, would you say are the main disadvantages about running a business in London?

160	%
Congested roads	51
Expensive rates	32
Poor rail services	28
High wages to pay	23
Poor buses	20
Lack of affordable housing	6
Lack of/expensive parking	6
High rents/property costs	5
High cost of living	3
Lack of skilled labour force	3
Pollution	2
Stressful environment	2
Competition	2
Dangerous environment	1
Lack of open spaces	1
Expensive transport costs	1
Anti-London mentality	1
Other	7
None	4
Don't know	2
Any transport	58
Any high costs	9

Q6 I am now going to read out a number of aspects of life in London today, and I would like you to tell me how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with each one.

Q7 Taking everything into account, how do you think London has changed since the abolition of the GLC in 1986?

160	%
Got a lot better	10
Got a little better	14
No difference	36
Got a little worse	22
Got a lot worse	6
Not here in 1986	7
Don't know	6
Better	24
Worse	28
Net better	-4

Q8 How much would you say you know about the plans for a new elected London Mayor and a Greater London Authority?

Q9 And from what you know about plans for the elected London Mayor and Authority, how successful do you think they will be in improving London?

160	%
Very successful	10
Fairly successful	46
Not very successful	21
Not at all successful	13
Don't know/no opinion	9
Successful	56
Not successful	34
Net successful	+22

Q10 When a new elected Mayor of London is in office, which two or three things do you think will be most important for the new mayor to address?

160	%
Improving Public Transport	69
Reducing traffic levels	53
Improving the quality of the environment	24
Reducing the level of crime	13
Improving schools	8
Improving the quality of housing	7
Providing more affordable housing	6
Improving health services	4
Regenerating London's poorest areas	4
Attracting businesses to London	4
Reducing business rates	4
Co-ordinating Boroughs	4
Promoting London's reputation	3
Homelessness	3
Better planning	2
Increasing tourism	1
Less bureaucracy	1
Improving parks and open spaces	*
Reducing transport fares	*
Unemployment	*
Improving leisure facilities	*
Improving arts and entertainment facilities	*
Other	9
Don't know	6
Any Transport	86

Q11 What type of person do you think is most likely to be a successful elected Mayor of London - someone with a primarily political background or somebody with a background in business?

Q12 Can you tell me the names of any people who have been linked with the position of elected London Mayor?

160	%
Jeffrey Archer	80
Ken Livingstone	77
Richard Branson	23
Glenda Jackson	19
Peter Mandelson	18
Chris Patten	8
Trevor Phillips	8
Steven Norris	6
Tony Banks	2
Simon Hughes	1
Frank Dobson	1
Bob Ayling	1
Other	6
Don't know	13

Q13 Who do you think would make the best elected Mayor of London?

160	%
Ken Livingstone	19
Chris Patten	5
Richard Branson	5
Jeffrey Archer	5
Peter Mandelson	3
Margaret Thatcher	2
John Harvey-Jones	1
Steven Norris	1
Glenda Jackson	1
Other	11
Don't know	46

Technical details

• Results based on 250 interviews with main board members of London businesses
• Interviews conducted by telephone between 6-14 January 1999
• Results are weighted by size of company to reflect Dun & Bradstreet database
• An asterisk (*) indicates a figure of less than one half of one per cent but more than zero
• Research conducted on behalf of Farebrother, a London-based chartered surveyors