Michael Moore's Outlook on the need to appreciate London, but not forget what lies beyond

Often the biggest queues in Westminster are not actually for Parliament itself, but for the phone boxes on the opposite side of the square.

An uninformed cynic might be rolling their eyes at this point. And reckon this tells you all you need to know about the state of British politics, or the state of British tech. Sceptical views can exist about both, of course, but that is not the point here.

These queues are not to use the iconic red phone boxes, but to get a picture standing beside them, with the even-more iconic Big Ben as the backdrop. Possibly no other photo you could pose for would instantly convey the ‘Look at me, I’m in London’ message of that set up.

The UK’s capital city is one of a handful globally that draws in millions of people every year, and is a powerful hub for countless economic, social and political reasons. As one seasoned US investor put it to me a few years ago – ‘London is three cities in one – the money of New York, the power of Washington, the cultural pull of LA – why would I want to be anywhere else?’

Allowing for some pretty bold claims in that comparison, that outsider’s perspective is a reminder, along with the queues in Parliament Square, that there is a real benefit to having London as a driving force in the UK.

You might think that would be incontestable, but it is a surprisingly controversial idea in many parts of the country. Businesses and policymakers beyond the M25 often wonder out loud if anybody in Westminster will ever pick up the phone.

Partly that is because the attention on London is seen to act like some kind of black hole for the rest of the country. Perhaps. It is certainly a draw for many, and I am not entirely objective here – since 1997 I have worked in London, while continuing to live in the south of Scotland. But even if the criticism is overstated, it does matter that we take a balanced view of how to make the best of London for the whole country.

The 2024 investment statistics for the UK, which the BVCA published recently, aside from showing a welcome rebound in overall investment levels, spoke to a long-established truth – while London dominates investment, last year over half of the industry’s capital deployment occurred elsewhere.

Some will see that as a lop-sided reality which is challenging to policymakers and the industry alike, but there is a lot to be positive about here. For one thing, the presence in the UK of the world’s largest hub of private capital expertise outside the USA, gives the country a significant competitive advantage. Years of data consistently indicate that about 50% of the investment deployed by UK managers is put to work across the country.

That gives the nations, regions and London a big advantage in attracting investment and jobs. And over the past couple of months I have seen that first hand in Leeds, Birmingham, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cambridge.

Thriving tech? Yes – in each of those locations, and not just in the places which are synonymous with venture capital (and private equity) backing it. Established businesses growing strongly? Yes – the transformative power of PE (and VC) is much in evidence in each part of the UK.

In discussions with industry leaders (and the businesses they are backing) outside London there can still be frustration about the challenge of attracting investors beyond the M25. But areas like the north west of England show it can be done and, like those in the east of England, then benefit from the critical mass of their regional ecosystems.

Others, including the nations of Scotland and Wales, are mysteriously behind the curve relative to other parts of the UK with similar populations (and much less advanced economic development powers).

While everyone can point at London and its undoubted advantages (earned or otherwise, according to perception), there is clearly scope for a fresh look at what makes different parts of the country more or less attractive to the private capital industry, and in turn generate much-sought-after growth.

Indeed, I sense a real urgency amongst policymakers and industry alike to make the most of the combined strengths of London and the rest of the UK. With the UK industrial strategy in the offing, now’s the time to tap into that spirit.  Without having to resort to calling one of those red phone boxes in Parliament Square hoping it will be answered.

Michael Moore
Chief Executive, BVCA

This article was originally published on 9 June 2025 on the Private Equity News website here.