What Next For London?

London First's Dr David Lutton speaks with Claire Sherwin, the Global Head of Talent Acquisition, People Services and Technology at Finastra and Leslie Benson, the Senior Managing Director in the Strategic Communications group at FTI Consulting, on the future of work.

Sarah Bentley, new CEO of Thames Water, joins Laura Osborne and Daniel Mahoney to discuss the future of the sector, its response to CV-19 and why infrastructure is in Sarah's DNA. From opening up wetlands to the public through to the balance of resilience and price rises, Sarah talks about the importance of putting customers front of mind.

We interviewed Ian Stewart, Deloitte's Chief Economist, on the UK's economic prospects, where to find the light at the end of the tunnel and the approach we should take to recovery. From the lessons of the Thatcher years, through to the prospect of higher rates of unemployment via the balance between austerity and tax rises, we covered a lot of ground.

Laura Osborne and David Lutton spoke to Robin about his experience leading 50,000 staff through the pandemic and what it has taught him about innovation, motivation and dynamism. He shares the different experiences of his customers across sectors, his take on recovery and what we can learn from the approaches taken in other global cities.

Apex Airspace CEO Ash Bhatti and London First CEO Jasmine Whitbread talk about the role of innovation in solving London's housing crisis, how airspace development can help the capital's councils make the most of their estates and why the next Mayor needs to keep housing delivery front of mind during the CV-19 recovery.

This week, we are joined by Sir Charles Bowman and Sunil Patel, both partners at PwC, to talk about the urgent need to focus on reskilling and upskilling, which has been made even more urgent in the COVID-19 context. They share lessons from around the globe with Mark Hilton and Laura Osborne, making a clear case for a skills-led recovery across the UK.

Zoe Humphries, Director at AECOM, and Mathieu Proust, General Manager at WeWork, talk to David Lutton and Laura Osborne about the future of office. From interactive studio space, through to the value of a human connection, they discuss why rumours that the office is dead are premature and what the future of office design needs to look like to bring people back to physical collaboration spaces.

With the shape of the economic recovery still subject to debate, Mark Hilton (London First ED for People) spoke to Ant Mazen (Head of Skills and Capabilities at Lloyds Bank) about the pragmatic changes needed to support the capital's workforce now and into the future. Following the release of the Skilling London report, they talked about the need for reskilling to be made easier, for deepening expertise to be accompanied by a focus on "soft skills" and for this to be embedded into the education system, supported by business.

Laura Citron, CEO of London & Partners (L&P), and Catherine McGuinness, Policy Chair at the City of London Corporation, join London First CEO Jasmine Whitbread to discuss rebuilding confidence and returning to growth. From making space for cyclists, to a shift to risk-based international travel, via the return to the office, they discussed the decisions that must be made urgently for the capital to unlock, recover and grow again.