Andrew Dismore

Israeli high tech

Question No: 2015/3552

Andrew Dismore

What business links and investment have you made  with Israeli high tech companies? Written answer from Sir Edward Lister and Gordon Innes The Israeli economy is particularly strong in high-tech industrial sectors, such as software, telecoms and semiconductors, as well as biomedical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Tel Aviv also claims to have the highest density of start-ups in the world, and may be the second-largest start-up cluster outside California by volume.  Since 2003, L&P has attracted/assisted 23 Israeli companies to invest in London, making Israel London’s 18th largest source market. In their first year, these projects created 157 jobs. The projects were mainly in tech, business services and financial services. L&P is forecasting increasing investment from Israel in the coming years. During the past two financial years, L&P is currently influencing/supporting 35 Israeli FDI projects, with 14 of these identified during the last 2 financial years. These projects are concentrated in Fintech, Adtech, E-commerce and cyber-security sectors. The US remains the leading destination market for Israeli FDI, attracting c.25% of all outbound Israeli FDI projects. The UK performs less well, attracting 4% of projects, making it the 7th largest destination market.  However, London performs disproportionately better and is the third ranked city for Israeli FDI after New York and Bucharest. Moreover, London attracts for 50% of all Israeli FDI to the UK. Since 2003, Israeli FDI into London has created an estimated 9,960 jobs and £1bn of capital investment.

London’s Jewish heritage Question No: 2015/3553 Andrew Dismore  What efforts have you made to promote London’s Jewish heritage to visitors? Written answer from Sir Edward Lister and Gordon Innes In order to maximise the ROI to the GLA, L&P focuses its leisure tourism marketing activities on its largest markets by value and volume: the USA, France and Germany. However, L&P also runs VisitLondon.com and associated social media platforms (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) The website is global and reaches 28 million unique users every year. It also seeks to offer the breadth and depth of London’s tourism offer, and features Jewish heritage and events which are open to the public and of potential interest to tourists.  VisitLondon.com has attraction listings which relate to London’s Jewish heritage, for example:  * The Jewish Museum in Camden * The Czech Memorial Scrolls Museum * The Wiener Library Institute of Contemporary History * The Ben Uri Gallery L&P also promote events through listings and social media posts. Recent examples include the Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, the Jewish Comedy festival at JW3 and the Judith Kerr exhibition at the Jewish Museum. There is also a Kosher restaurants page.  Additionally ‘Chanukah on the Square’ is a major event in the London calendar. It is included in the ‘events calendar’ page on visitlondon.com as one of the top 15 events in London for the month of December.

Visitors from the rest of the EU Question No: 2015/3554 Andrew Dismore  How many visitors do you estimate came to London from the rest of the EU in each of the last 3 years? Written answer from Sir Edward Lister and Gordon Innes L&P can provide the following estimates, which come from the ONS’s International Passenger Survey.  2012 2013 2014 EU Visitors to London (m) 8.8 9.6 10.1

Businesses based in the rest of the EU

Question No: 2015/3555

Andrew Dismore

How many businesses based in the rest of the EU have you helped set up in London in each

of the last 3 years; and how many jobs were created as a result?

Written answer from Sir Edward Lister and Gordon Innes

L&P has attracted and helped the following number of EU businesses to invest in London,

which created the following number of jobs during the first investment year:

FDI:

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Projects from EU

53

80

62

Year 1 jobs

980

855

905

Tour de France grande depart (1)

Question No: 2015/3556

Andrew Dismore

What do you consider the impact of London’s last minute rejection of the  Tour de France grande depart will be, in attracting other high profile sporting events and visitors  to London? Written answer from Sir Edward Lister and Gordon Innes London hosts some of the world’s largest sporting and cultural events. These include regular blockbuster events, such as the London Marathon, RideLondon and NFL International Series, as well as one-off events, such as this year’s Rugby World Cup and 2017’s IAAF World Championships. There was no “last minute rejection” of the Tour de France grande depart. London remains committed to hosting sporting and cultural events that provide the city with a strong return on investment, based on our evaluation of economic, media and community impact. The decision not to host the 2017 Grand Départ was a difficult one but was reached for sound financial reasons. The decision has no impact on our ongoing commitment to hosting sporting events in London and we are sure that the international community will continue to see London as a leading destination for major sports events.

Tour de France grande depart (2)

Question No: 2015/3557

Andrew Dismore

What do you estimate the revenue to London businesses and services would have been as a

consequence of the Tour , if the  Tour de France grande depart had taken place in 2017 as

originally intended?

Written answer from Sir Edward Lister and Gordon Innes

The cost of hosting the Grand Depart would have been £35 million. Initial work undertaken

by L&P estimated that there may have been a long-term economic benefit return in excess of

that amount [around £85 million for London]. However, the decision had to weighed against

having to find the staging costs in the short-term, when other competing priorities, such as

the cycle superhighway must be funded. It would also be at a time when the effects of the

Comprehensive Spending Review are not fully known. This was a difficult choice to make,

but ultimately the right one.

Formula 1 Question No: 2015/3558 Andrew Dismore  What work are you doing on bringing a Formula 1 race to London? Written answer from Sir Edward Lister and Gordon Innes We have not had any recent discussions regarding Formula 1. However, L&P and the GLA have been heavily involved in securing the Formula E event for London. As a result, the final two stages of the Formula E event race season will be hosted in London for the coming years. Like Formula 1, Formula E is sanctioned by the international Governing body, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile).