Last week I attended a reception at the Tate Modern which celebrated the acquisition of Execution Noble by Banco Espiritio Santo Group. Two businesses which most people outside the world of banking will never have heard of, but yet it’s a deal which reflects the way the UK is being perceived by the wider world. Banco Espirito Santo, is a global bank which already operates across five continents, but has decided to invest in the UK, committing itself to London as a global financial centre. A key theme of the speakers on the evening was that the UK really is open for business, these are not just words spoken by the Chancellor at the despatch box, but a fact, proven by the recent increase in inward investment and deals like this one. The home of Banco Espirito Santo is Lisbon, a place with significantly better weather than the UK, as many people that evening reminded me, but not an international hub and centre for finance as London is. Bankers from across the world were keen to point out that despite the constant reminders that the banking community is eminently mobile, London is still a draw. For them it is a truly diverse and internationally focused city, which brings together highly skilled and highly capable workers, not just in banking but across the million plus people employed by the financial services sector. Many of which are not the mega bonus earning bankers of which we all hear about. It’s clear that the last government relied too heavily on the financial services sector for growth and tax receipts, and as a result we must rebalance the economy, not just away from public spending based growth, but also away from a London centric financial services dependent model. It’s also clear that we need to rebuild our engineering and manufacturing capacity, increasing the number of things we design, build and sell to the world. However in doing so we should remember the UK’s special place in the world of financial services. As an international hub, with the benefit of time zone and language we have something special, which mustn’t be neglected, just added to and evolved.