Bosses of tech groups such as Checkout.com, Klarna and Graphcore were invited to Downing Street to meet City minister John Glen and officials to discuss the progress made in attracting founder-led tech companies.
The mood, according to those present, was bullish, underpinned by London Stock Exchange data that more than £6.6bn had been raised by tech and consumer internet companies last year, double 2020 levels.
However, many tech executives expressed doubt over whether the bold words would be sufficient to
turn the London market into a destination with more global heft. This concern was highlighted when GP Bullhound, a London-headquartered venture capital group that invested in Revolut and Klarna, last week raised €200mn for a blank cheque company. Rather than London, it turned to Amsterdam.
Other executives say short term share price movements should not sway opinion and point to the poor performance for US tech IPOs over the past year. But others worry the UK in particular needs to prove a point - with valuations much lower than the US - and are worried the changes to the listings rules so far are not enough to spark a new wave of tech IPOs this year.
Officials who attended the meeting last week reassured tech bosses the government would introduce
further reforms, noting the importance of access to capital.
