London Remains Business Capital of the World

Although London, Paris and Frankfurt remain the top three European cities to do business in, Moscow has been named the most favourable city in Europe for companies looking to expand according to a survey by Cushman & Wakefield. More companies (47) intend to next expand in the Russian capital than any other European city, a jump from 35 in 2009.

The findings reveal that Vienna, Austria, is the biggest riser this year - moving up six places to rank 22nd best European city for business. London is once again ranked the top business city overall, a position it has held every year since the survey started in 1990. Paris and Frankfurt are again ranked 2nd and 3rd. Brussels moves back into fourth place ahead of Barcelona with an improved score over the year.

In its 21st year, the European Cities Monitor is based on interviews with board directors and senior management in charge of location for the 500 largest companies in Europe. It includes an overall ranking of which European city is considered by the business community to be ‘best for business’ and the ‘best city in which to locate a business today’. In addition to this, 36 cities are ranked against criteria such as quality of life, access to markets, availability and quality of staff, cost of office space, telecommunications and transport links.