London Stock Exchange boss urges UK to boost investment attractiveness

Dame Julia Hoggett, the head of the London Stock Exchange, has urged the UK government to take action to make the domestic stock market more attractive for businesses and investors, warning that a growing number of firms are choosing to list their shares in the US.

Hoggett told the BBC that the government needs to create "structural incentives" to encourage investment in the UK, stating, "If we want Britain to back Britain, which is what I hear the chancellor and the prime minister saying, then let's make sure that we're creating structural incentives to do so. We need to take the handbrake off."

The LSE's main market comprises approximately 930 companies with a total market value of about £4.9 trillion, of which nearly 40% are international businesses. However, several firms have recently delisted or moved their primary listings away from London, including Just Eat to Amsterdam, Tui to Frankfurt, and Flutter to New York.

The number of new listings in London has also declined significantly. Last year, the LSE saw 23 IPOs that raised £2.1bn, a stark contrast to the 354 IPOs in the US that raised $44bn (£33bn). Hoggett noted that UK investment money is increasingly flowing into US stocks in search of better returns, stating, "We talk as a nation about wanting growth in every postcode, but at the moment, a lot of us are funding growth in every zip code."

She attributed some of the problem to negative sentiment surrounding the UK market, which she described as often exaggerated. "We need to stop throwing shade at ourselves as a nation... it's a national habit," she said. Hoggett also proposed specific incentives, such as scrapping the 0.5% tax on UK share purchases and reintroducing tax credits for domestic investment, a scheme that existed until 2016.

The Confederation of British Industry has echoed these calls, advocating for lighter regulation, better marketing, and investor incentives to stem the outflow of companies. The government has declined to comment on potential stock market reforms ahead of the upcoming Budget.