Event Archive

London First’s Business Advisory Group is made up of 20 leaders from cross-sector businesses to look at the big picture questions the capital needs to answer to secure London’s recovery from the COVID-19 and stay competitive into the future. The group is chaired by our Chairman Paul Drechsler and connects the business voice with government at all levels.

The Data for London (D4L) Working Group continues the momentum created by the London Data Commission, and works closely with the GLA and the boroughs, lending a strong business voice for data-collaboration to solve city challenges. Our aim is to encourage purposeful data collaborations amongst public sector agencies across London and between the public and private sector to solve civic challenges and make a positive impact on the lives of Londoners.

These informal virtual roundtables provide senior business leaders — chairs and CEOs — in membership with the opportunity to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on business, the capital and the economy and to look ahead to what business and the government will need to focus on to support the capital’s recovery. All discussions take place under the Chatham House rule. 

Join us for London First’s Virtual Skills London debate 2020, where we will be bringing together educational experts, business leaders, London Government and young people to debate the questions: with fewer than ever opportunities available due to Covid-19, what can business, education, government and the third sector do to help? How can we ensure boosting diversity and inclusion in London’s workforce is key in this process?

In early 2019 we convened a group of experts to discuss the Government’s plans to deliver one million new homes between Oxford and Cambridge by 2050 to boost it as a ​‘world-leading economic place’, and to ask what this could mean for London. 

As part of our series of events with the leaders of London’s most vibrant boroughs, please join us for a webinar briefing with Councillor Mark Allison, Leader of Merton Council. 

This event will be an excellent opportunity to hear the Leader discuss both his priorities for Merton and the key challenges and opportunities for growth in the borough.
 

These informal virtual roundtables provide senior business leaders — chairs and CEOs — in membership with the opportunity to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on business, the capital and the economy and to look ahead to what business and the government will need to focus on to support the capital’s recovery. All discussions take place under the Chatham House rule. 

London is now 8 months on from initial lockdown and all parts of industry have been affected by the pandemic. Working within the constraints of a Covid-19 world, what are the opportunities for London to build back better and cement its role as being the best city in the world to do business?

LIS2020

Join us for a briefing with LocatED, an arms-length body to the Department for Education. It is responsible for buying and developing sites in England to help deliver new school places for thousands of children.

These informal virtual roundtables provide senior business leaders — chairs and CEOs — in membership with the opportunity to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on business, the capital and the economy and to look ahead to what business and the government will need to focus on to support the capital’s recovery. All discussions take place under the Chatham House rule.

Join us in conversation with Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development at the GLA. 

London First webinar with the Department for Education kindly hosted by Grant Thornton 

Join us for our annual London First and Planning Officers Society London planning discussion, rescheduled from March. 

This virtual roundtable discussion will largely focus on the Planning White Paper. We look forward to a lively cross-sector debate about what the Government’s proposals could mean for London.
 

One of the most important lessons of Covid19 is that Education & Skills really matter. They are the only way to ensure future generations can deal with the challenges of global development, health and Climate Change. I am delighted to be hosting a roundtable discussion on this theme.

The RTPI ​‘State of the Profession’ research last year found that 40% of planners are female. However, a report by Women in Planning, also in 2019, highlighted that only 17% of women fill director and above roles in private planning consultancy.

As part of our series of events with the leaders of London’s most vibrant boroughs, please join us for a webinar briefing with Councillor Rachael Robathan, Leader of Westminster City Council.

This event will be an excellent opportunity to hear the Leader discuss both her priorities for Westminster and the key challenges and opportunities for growth in the borough.

Join us for a personal briefing from Simon Gallagher, Planning Director at MHCLG to hear more about the Government’s thinking behind the Planning White Paper and their proposed reforms.

Due to the forthcoming Devolution White Paper, it was not possible to provide any detail on London specifically, but this will be a chance to pose questions to Simon on what the reforms could mean for London. 

These informal virtual roundtables provide senior business leaders — chairs and CEOs — in membership with the opportunity to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on business, the capital and the economy and to look ahead to what business and the government will need to focus on to support the capital’s recovery. All discussions take place under the Chatham House rule.

As part of our series of events with the leaders of London’s most vibrant boroughs, please join us for a webinar briefing with Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham.

This event will be an excellent opportunity to hear the Mayor discuss both his priorities for Lewisham and the key challenges and opportunities for growth in the borough.
 

Join us for a briefing and discussion with David Lunts, Executive Director of Housing and Land at the GLA. 

As part of our regular engagement with key decision makers in London, David will discuss the main housing issues currently confronting City Hall, including: the current state of the housing market in London; the latest steps being taken to support house building in the capital; and progress of the Mayor’s affordable housing programme. 

Modern methods of construction, or MMC, represent a real opportunity to help alleviate some of the challenges we face in the current housing crisis. MMC can supplement our traditional methods of housebuilding with faster and more efficient build out rates and, as seen most recently, continued construction in challenging times.

These informal virtual roundtables provide senior business leaders — chairs and CEOs — in membership with the opportunity to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on business, the capital and the economy and to look ahead to what business and the government will need to focus on to support the capital’s recovery. All discussions take place under the Chatham House rule.

As part of our series of events with the leaders of London’s most vibrant boroughs, please join us for a webinar briefing with Councillor Steve Curran, Leader of Hounslow Council.

This event will be an excellent opportunity to hear the Leader discuss both his priorities for Hounslow and the key challenges and opportunities for growth in the borough.

Join us for a webinar with Philip Graham, Executive Director, Good Growth at the GLA. Six months into his new role, Philip will outline what the Mayor’s vision of Good Growth in the Capital is and how, in the light of the coronavirus pandemic, it can still be achieved. 

This interactive session will include a panel debate with the Theo Blackwell, London’s Chief Digital Officer and bring you up-to-speed on the work of the Commission, including our work supporting the GLA and Alan Turing Institutes’ Covid-19 initiative. It will also provide insights into the priorities of key data stakeholders plus preview the Commission’s recommendations and exciting future projects, ahead of the Commission’s report launch in September.

To mark the 20^th anniversary of TfL, London First, the Port of London Authority and Port of Tilbury will look at how the River Thames can become a more integral part of London’s transport strategy.

The webinar will provide an overview of the London Legacy Development Corporation, its work to deliver the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park including its development in the run up to the Olympic Games and its wider impact on the surrounding area. The session will also explore what is next for the LLDC, its wider regeneration work and future developments for the area. 

As London begins to reopen and recover from Covid-19, how we travel around the city will have to change. A poorly managed return to public transport is a critical risk for our capital and Government, City Hall, Transport for London, and businesses will need work in lockstep to ensure demand is reduced and retimed. Transport for London have been quick to create Streetspace to enable more safe, sustainable, and socially distanced travel, including supporting greater experimentation with micro-mobility.

As London begins to come out of lockdown the challenge for businesses is be getting back to normal levels of service and operation, but disruptions to workforce, difficult market conditions and uncertainty about the long term effect on the economy and behaviour make business planning exceptionally difficult. New machine learning technologies like AI will be immensely valuable in helping companies adapt to the new reality.

MHCLG and DEFRA would like to consult with London First members who are involved in the design and delivery of development about the concept of Biodiversity Net Gain and delivering green infrastructure.

The draft new London Plan contains policies that seek to protect industrial capacity in London through the intensification of industrial uses. This includes the multi-layering of industrial and warehousing accommodation and the co-location of housing and commercial activities. Our discussion will explore the planning, design and viability issues arising from such approaches and how the draft new London Plan policies are being interpreted at the borough level.

Prior to COVID-19, expansion of university estates and the need for more purpose-built student accommodation were top of the agenda. Do these plans remain? Or will changes need to be made? How will the pandemic impact the attractiveness of London as city to study in for both domestic and international students?

With unlocking moving through the steps set out in the Government roadmap, TfL faces new challenges as Londoners return to movement. Vernon Everitt, Managing Director for Customers, Communications, and Technology at TfL, will be joining London First members to talk about the progress being made and the ways in which the private sector can support a well-managed return to public transport in the capital. 

Please join us for a special leadership event which celebrates Leadership Exchange, our peer to peer mentoring programme between senior police and business leaders. The conversation will revolve around the unique challenges of leading through the COVID-19 pandemic and the journey towards recovery. 

Join us for a webinar presentation and virtual discussion to look at how innovation is continually changing the way we use and live in our homes. We will be looking at how technology allows us to be more efficient in the way we use and run our buildings and will pay attention to BTR developments. 

As part of our Infrastructure Funding and Financing Working Group, London First and Arcadis will be hosting a private virtual discussion with Steve Lomas. Steve is the Infrastructure Project Authority’s Director of Finance and has been leading their work on the HM Treasury’s Infrastructure Finance Review.

London First will be hosting a small roundtable discussion with Amy Lamé, Night Czar, and Laura Citron, CEO of London & Partners, to discuss initiatives that support London’s economic recovery within the hospitality, retail and leisure sector, including a consumer-facing campaign to restore consumer confidence.

Join us for the next event in our exclusive Partner Series, and take part in an in-depth discussion with Charles Roxburgh, Second Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury. 

Powering the mobility revolution will require multiple solutions and interventions. The owners and operators of vehicle fleets are already at the forefront of electrification efforts in London, and have the ability to overcome the scalability challenge.

Join a selection of London’s major fleet owners and operators on this virtual roundtable to discuss how to accelerate the transition during the recovery. 

Andrew Bailey will be sharing his take on the unprecedented economic challenges caused by Covid-19, what he sees as vital for London’s recovery and what all this might mean for the economy and business longer-term.

Wes Streeting MP will be sharing his insights into labour thinking on the unprecedented economic challenges caused by Covid-19. From infrastructure funding to the UK’s levelling up agenda, we’ll be discussing what key things are needed for London’s roadmap to recovery and what all this might mean for business, the economy and country in the long term.

London First has been calling for reform to the apprenticeship system, including coming together earlier this year with the North West Business Leadership Team (NWBLT) to launch a major report which sets out an action plan for making the system more accessible and flexible. 

Innovation is continually changing the way we use and live in our homes. Virtualy hosted by Bosch, this roundtable will discuss how such technologies will evolve and, paying particular attention to the current COVID-19 crisis, consider the benefits of smarter technology with respect to build to rent developments where the owner is responsible for the ongoing maintenance and utilities in the building. 

There is a major projected funding gap for London’s future transport. Despite an announcement of substantial increases in publicly funded infrastructure investment at the 2020 Budget, it is still unclear how London’s transport investment needs will be met.

Given the new government is led by a Prime Minister we’ve worked with before, the upcoming Mayoral election and the ongoing challenges around skills, housing and transport, these events will be lively and informative. All discussions take place under the Chatham House rule.

As part of our series of events with the leaders of London’s most vibrant boroughs, please join us for a webinar briefing with Councillor Clare Coghill, Leader of Waltham Forest Council.

This event will be an excellent opportunity to hear the Leader discuss both her priorities for Waltham Forest and the key challenges and opportunities for growth in the borough.