Transport And High Costs Are The Key Problems To Doing Business In London - Topline Results

• MORI interviewed 500 London members of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) by telephone between 15-30 May 2003.
• CIMA provided MORI with their London membership database. From the membership details provided, MORI then interviewed as many finance directors as possible, with a random sample of the remainder, subject to restricting coverage to one person per organisation.
• Results are based on all respondents (500) unless otherwise stated.
• Data are not weighted.
• An '*' indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero.
• Survey conducted by MORI on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Business In London

160

Q1 How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with London as a place for your business?

160	%
Very satisfied	41
Fairly satisfied	48
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	5
Fairly dissatisfied	4
Very dissatisfied	*
Don't know	1

160

Q2 What, in your opinion, are your company's business reasons for having their head office in London?

160	%
TRANSPORT / TRAVEL:	3
Buses/trains	2
London Underground/the Tube	2
Roads	1
Congestion Charging	0
Parking	0
Traffic congestion	0
LOCATION:	58
Close to 'the City' and financial institutions	29
Convenient location for all facilities	20
Good connections internationally	10
Good connections nationally	8
Close to airport	4
Close to Government	3
COST:	*
The cost of living	*
The cost of property	*
Taxes/Council Tax	0
Childcare costs	0
The cost of housing	0
BUSINESS:	21
Access to good quality employees	10
Our client base is in London	9
Key directors live in London	3
Business rates/Insurance premiums	*
Job opportunities/better salaries/higher wages	*
Regulation	*
OTHER:	34
Historical reason/have always been in London	18
Prestige	8
Good services/facilities/amenities	1
Good cultural facilities and restaurants	1
Large population	1
English language	1
The mixture of people who live here	*
Threat of terrorism	*
The range of housing available	0
Safety in London/Crime rates	0
Other	7
160
Don't know	1
Head office is not located in London	7
None of these/nothing	1

160

Q3 What, if anything, would you say are the two or three best things about running a business in London?

160	%
TRANSPORT / TRAVEL:	17
Buses/trains	10
London Underground/the Tube	9
Roads	4
Better communication	2
Congestion Charging	0
Parking	0
Traffic congestion	0
LOCATION:	63
Close to 'the City' and financial institutions	30
Convenient location for all facilities	25
Good connections internationally	14
Good connections nationally	10
Close to airport	6
Close to Government	3
COST:	*
The cost of property	*
The cost of living	0
Taxes/Council Tax	0
Childcare costs	0
The cost of housing	0
BUSINESS:	41
Access to good quality employees	35
Our client base is in London	7
Job opportunities/better salaries/higher wages	1
Regulation	1
Business rates/Insurance premiums	*
Key directors live in London	*
OTHER:	31
Prestige	10
Good services/facilities/amenities	5
Overpopulated/overcrowded	3
English language	3
The mixture of people who live here	3
Good cultural facilities and restaurants	2
Time zone	1
Historical reason/have always been in London	1
Safety in London/Crime rates	*
The range of housing available	*
Other	7
160
Don't know	3
None of these/nothing	2

160

Q4 What key risks, if any, are there to doing business in London?

160	%
TRANSPORT / TRAVEL:	21
London Underground/the Tube	12
Buses/trains	11
Traffic congestion	7
Roads	3
Congestion Charging	2
Transport generally	1
Lack of parking	*
Parking facilities	*
COST:	32
The cost of living	17
The cost of property	16
Taxes/Council Tax	5
The cost of housing	5
Childcare costs	0
BUSINESS:	43
Business rates/Insurance premiums	16
Job opportunities/salaries/wages	10
Competition/retaining staff	5
Single currency/Not joining EU	4
Crumbling infrastructure	4
Lack of good employees	3
Strikes	2
Market conditions/economy	2
Increased regulation	1
Financial risk	1
Customers/Financial centre moving	1
Protests and demonstrations	*
OTHER:	44
Threat of terrorism	40
Safety in London/Crime rates	2
Fall in tourism	1
Overpopulated/overcrowded	1
Services/facilities/amenities	*
Cultural facilities and restaurants	*
Aircraft noise	*
The mixture of people who live here	0
The range of housing available	0
Other	3
160
Don't know	5
None of these/nothing	8

160

Q5 What, if anything, would you say are the two or three worst things about running a business in London?

160	%
TRANSPORT / TRAVEL:	58
London Underground/the Tube	29
Traffic congestion	27
Buses/trains	23
Roads	7
Infrastructure/transport system generally	3
Congestion Charging	3
Parking facilities	2
Lack of parking	1
The cost of transport	1
Commuting/travel distance	1
Aircraft noise	0
COST:	48
The cost of living	26
The cost of property	23
Taxes/Council Tax	6
The cost of housing	6
Childcare costs	*
BUSINESS:	34
Business rates/Insurance premiums	16
Job opportunities/salaries/wages	11
Lack of good quality employees	4
Crumbling infrastructure	2
Joining euro/EU	2
Strikes	1
Increased regulation	1
The competition	1
Redundancy/staff turnover	1
Cost of running business	*
OTHER:	17
Pollution	3
Overpopulated/overcrowded	3
Safety in London/Crime rates	2
Threat of terrorism	2
Services/facilities/amenities	*
The range of housing available	*
Stress	*
The mixture of people who live here	0
Cultural facilities and restaurants	0
Other	7
160
Don't know	5
None of these/nothing	2

160

Q6 Over the past two years or so, do you think London has got better or worse as a place to run a business or has it stayed about the same?

160	%
Got better	12
Got worse	25
Stayed about the same	61
Don't know	2

160

>>: All those who think London has got worse a place to run a business (124).

Q7 Why do you say that?