Despite predictions that companies would lose faith in London and rush to set up offices in Europe, the new 'Cities of Influence' report by Colliers International says that London will remain number one for talent, location and costs.

No single city in Europe has capacity to absorb 100,000 jobs at short notice

“The outcome of the EU referendum made many nervous that we would see a mass exodus of businesses relocating from London. Indeed, some sceptics predicted 100,000 finance and business services jobs would be likely to flee to the continent, and only recently, HSBC and UBS confirmed that they would start transferring staff within the next two years, and Barclays said it would move around 150 jobs to Dublin,” said Guy Douetil, Managing Director, EMEA Corporate Solutions.He continued, “Relocation on the scale of 100,000 jobs is not possible to achieve in such a short space of time. No single city in Europe has the capacity to absorb 100,000 jobs at short notice, from a talent perspective."

Cities of Influence report highlights include:

• London and Paris hold on to the top two spots - mostly because of their size
• Paris leads with regard to output/orientation, future skills, capacity and affordability/cost. Paris also scores strongly in terms of size/experience of the latent talent pool
• Manchester ranks 3rd, followed by Stockholm at 4th and Dublin at 5th place
• German cities suffer from a combination of either lack of capacity and expense (Frankfurt), cost/affordability factors (Munich) and over-dependence on the public sector, despite increases in tech, media and telecoms operators in Berlin
• The bottom ranking cities include Milan, Budapest and Brussels, due, in part, to country risk

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• Facebook and Google suggest how UK businesses can prosper post-Brexit

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Damian Harrington, Director Head of EMEA Research at Colliers International, added his analysis. “London may be one of the most expensive cities from a real estate standpoint but when taking all factors into consideration, and the ability of the city to re-invent and evolve, it is superior to all other major European cities in this study."Recent announcements at the end of 2016 by global tech giants such including Apple, Google, Facebook and IBM re-affirmed their commitment to the future of the London and UK economies. With Trumps latest immigration policy, this could be even more reason for talent to move to London. The ability to hold on to its workforce and continue developing its talent base, will be critical to ensure the UK’s capital remains a primary attractor of corporate activity.”

UK labour laws more relaxed in London than Paris

The report notes that UK’s labour laws are far more relaxed in London than in Paris. This has been a major driver of businesses location decisions in favour of London and could have an impact on a firm's decision to relocate post-Brexit.For related news and features, visit our Brexit section.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory  Access our free Global Mobility Toolkit factsheets: