London tops NY as world’s best place to do business

If, as Napoleon said, ''England is a nation of shopkeepers,'' then they certainly do it better than anyone else. London has emerged as the most competitive financial centre in the world, overtaking New York and utterly dominating the rankings compiled by analysts at the Z/Yen Group this year.

Underlining that John Bull is back, the capital topped every single category in the index, with the best business environment, the most developed financial centre, the most impressive infrastructure, the best human capital and the top overall reputation.

New York is the second best financial centre, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

London received a substantial boost from the Conservative victory in May's general election, the Global Financial Centres Index report said.

Labour, led at the time by Ed Miliband, was notably more hostile to business in the run-up to the vote.

The rejection of independence by Scottish voters was also a positive, with foreigners assessing the stability of London and Britain as a place to do business.

The depth and breadth of business activity also helped, with the strength of the professional services and insurance industries alongside banking giving London a boost in the rankings.

All the finance professionals surveyed ranked London very highly, indicating that it is a stable place to work.

Meanwhile, the biggest climber in the top 10 is Toronto, which moved up three spaces to be ranked at eight in the table.

But the fastest mover in the top 20 is Dubai, which rocketed up seven spaces in the annual rankings to claim the 16th slot globally.

The plunging oil price caused major stock price falls in late 2014, but the emirate is still the Middle East's premier financial centre and appears to be bouncing back after tumbling down the rankings last year.

The study found that respondents from Eastern Europe, North America and the Middle East were particularly favourable towards London, while those in Asia-Pacific, Western Europe and Latin America are less keen on the City's dominance.