John Dickie, BusinessLDN’s Chief Executive, will set the scene for the day with an opening keynote address on how London will rise to the growth challenge, ensuring the Capital works with and for the UK.

Our first session will explore how the current economic outlook will shape the growth of new sectors and how we attract investment for future success.

Peter Arnold, EY UK Chief Economist, will set out the economic outlook for London and the UK, and share the latest insights from EY’s Foreign Direct Investment attractiveness index.

Our expert panel will share their views on London’s current strengths and sources of competitiveness, as well as the issues to address if London is to remain attractive to investors. This session will explore: • The investment location factors that matter to Boards and investors • What London can learn from international best practice • Act now: what politicians and regulators must do to keep London a leading destination for global capital. This session includes live audience Q&A.

Keynote address from Thomas Woldbye, Chief Executive of Heathrow Airport

Muniya Barua, Deputy Chief Executive, BusinessLDN

Businesses are having to deal with ever more rapid change: sometimes as innovators, often reacting to disruption. Session 2 opens with a case study from Iris Ceramica as how they’ve lead change to meet the challenges of decarbonisation, followed by a panel discussion that explores the broader learnings to be taken from the construction industry on both driving and dealing with innovation, before splitting into breakout sessions that explore some of the biggest disruptions facing London’s businesses right now.

Federica Minozzi, Chief Execuitve of Iris Ceramica Group, will set out how Iris Ceramica has driven innovation against the backdrop of increasing market and regulatory pressures to decarbonise; how success stemmed from holistic construction supply-chain thinking that considered the entire business lifecycle and their clients’ needs; and how being ahead of the curve creates competitive advantage. Our panellists will then discuss how London can deliver circular construction – regenerating, reusing and recycling – to help meet the city’s net zero commitments; and the wider lessons from leading innovation and dealing with disruption here for London businesses. This session includes live audience Q&A.

Digital transformation and the transition to Net-Zero will create both a dramatic shift in the city’s skills needs and, not least through the deployment of AI, a substantial number of Londoners who will need new skills, either in their existing jobs or as they look for new employment. Our expert panel will look to answer: • What is being done now to soften the skills gap that is coming? • What strategies should organisations adopt to ensure an agile and resilient workforce? • Can the disruption of AI be a force for good that boosts labour market inclusion?

Digital connectivity has transformed the way individuals, businesses, and societies interact, communicate and operate. And nowhere is this more apparent than through the innovative partnership between Boldyn Networks and Transport for London to bring 5G to London Underground, allowing commuters and visitors to make better use of their travel time with seamless connectivity. This session will explore: • What can be done to ensure London leads the way in becoming a smart city? • How can the public and private sector work together to meet the connectivity needs of a rapidly growing world city? • How businesses can benefit from better connectivity to boost productivity and their bottom line.

With London’s existing building stock being one of the key contributors to the capital’s carbon emissions, there is an immediate need for long-term strategies that will support the upgrading of London’s built environment. In this case, accelerated change would be welcome by many, so what will it take to make large-scale retrofitting an attractive investment? And, importantly, how quickly can these much-needed changes be implemented? Our panel will examine: • What is being done to remove existing barriers and create viable opportunities? • The financial gains to be had by those willing to invest in innovation • The wider associated benefits that can be derived from large-scale infrastructure upgrades.

London is a dynamic, international and successful business centre, responsible for one quarter of the UK’s economic output. Some see this scale as a barrier to growth elsewhere in the UK; others see London’s international heft as competitive advantage for the whole country. This session starts with a panel discussion around how London and other UK city regions can grow together; then splits into breakout sessions looking at three topics key to our future success.

Leaders from across England will share their insights on how city-regions can work together to drive growth. This session will explore: ▪ How devolution from central to city-regional government is good for growth ▪ How cities can drive innovation and learn from each other ▪ How cities can collaborate to meet their common challenges Chaired by: Vincent Keaveny, Former Lord Mayor of London and Partner, DLA Piper Panellists include: Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Andy Lord, Commissioner of Transport for London Plus more to be announced shortly. This session includes live audience Q&A

Parallel breakout sessions to explore key issues in smaller groups, with a chance for more informal discussion.

The UK is in the midst of a housing crisis with London at the epicentre. The fundamental challenge is that we’re not building enough homes. But can we shift the dial and increase housebuilding by thinking of housing as not just bricks and mortar but as an infrastructure asset class, and attract investment globally and at scale? This session will explore: • What we need to change to make housing an attractive asset class for investors, across build for sale, build to rent and affordable. • What lessons we can learn from other cites, at home and abroad

London's life sciences sector is at the van guard of developing groundbreaking therapies and technologies. From biotech startups to multinational corporations, it’s no wonder that investors are flocking towards the sector which benefits from the capital’s world-class research institutions, top-tier universities, deep talent pool and a single healthcare provider in the NHS. This session will explore: • How best to support the sector’s needs – from navigating a complex planning system and high demand for space to ensuring it has the skills needed to compete globally? • The role of universities in supporting the sector from cutting edge resource to technology transfer? • How the public and private sectors can work together to drive growth of the sector.

With London nearing megacity status, its energy networks demand significant levels of investment to simultaneously meet the needs of a growing population whilst decarbonising at pace. This session will look at the interplay between the public and private sectors in driving the energy transition in London, exploring the role that local area energy plans can play in providing a framework and evidence base to push forward the scale of investment required, and set an example for other cities to follow.

A high-energy, rapid-fire interview pairs session, involving market participants at the coal face, giving different perspectives from the commercial real estate, housing, and transport sectors. Check back for exciting announcements shortly!

With the countdown underway to the next General Election, what are the key factors that will shape the outcome, and what will it truly mean for the future of London? This session includes live audience Q&A session.

A summing up of the days key takeaways and topic discussion points. Matthew Fell, Director of Competitiveness, BusinessLDN

Continue the discussion and cement connections made during the day.