London’s IPO market is struggling, but there is hope. Charles Hall lays out how the government can revitalise the country’s capital markets

Rachel Reeves recently announced the creation of a Listings Taskforce with the bold remit “to attract the best businesses in the world to IPO here in London”. The need for boldness is sorely required given the tumbleweed drifting by the London IPO market. The stats speak for themselves – there have been just five IPOs of over £100m market cap primary listed in London since the start of 2023, which compares to takeover bids for 111 companies over the same period. The total market cap of these new entries was just £2bn compared to £100bn of exits. Houston, we have a problem.

The good news is we are not short of great potential candidates to float on the market and that is just UK businesses. However, we need to ensure that London is seen as the listing venue of choice and that the........

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