London businesses: Cautiously optimistic

Businesses in London are more optimistic now about their prospects for 2010 than they've been in the last 18 months. So say pollsters from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and KPMG, who have unveiled the results of their latest survey of firms in the capital.

Most companies are still cautious about future investment, though, and they have their doubts about London's longer-term status as a world city. An overly burdensome tax and regulatory regime was singled out as a primary threat to the capital's attractiveness to entrepreneurs and investors.

Nonetheless, 86 per cent of those polled say they reckon the city's a good place to do business, compared to 80 per cent who claimed the same in April.

Over half have been forced to lay off staff during the recession, however, and a little more than a quarter opted to put a freeze on hiring altogether. On the back of the survey's results, the CBI urged London's mayor to bolster business support for small firms.

"The fact London's businesses feel their most positive for 18 months suggests the darkest days of the recession should be behind us," added an optimistic Nigel Bourne, director of the organisation's London arm.