As London rises “dramatically” above New York in the prime property market, the headlines declaim: London is the first choice for the world’s wealthy as prices and sales of luxury houses and apartments in the last five years beat every city in the world.

But what about normal people; people who have normal jobs, aspirations and bank balances?

What about small businesses looking to cut overheads and rebalance life and work with a London Virtual Office?

Here are six reasons to choose a London Virtual Office for your online business.

1. Price

At Hatton & Berkeley, we’re constantly baffled by the ever-ascending space elevator that is the London property market.

But virtual offices present a different take on it. Relative to the actual office and residential prices, London is by far the cheapest place in the world to trade from. Average office spaces on Berkeley Square in Mayfair are around £90 per square foot per month. You can get an entirely virtual office for just £55.

A bit of a steal, given that you don’t need to deal with the estate agents, landlords, staff, building maintenance, exorbitant prices in the surrounding area, fees, VAT, insurance and tax. Oh and the loud cars.

2. Benefits

There are numerous generous tax benefits for companies looking to base themselves here.

Corporation tax is low and the number of financial instruments enabling the avoidance of tax liabilities is a huge business here (incidentally we do it too – contact us.)

With R&D tax credits, for example, the government SME scheme allows eligible companies to claim an overall reduction of 225 per cent on qualifying R&D expenditure. Loss-making companies can exchange tax losses attributable to R&D relief for a payable cash credit at a rate of 11 per cent. Tidy. 

3. Networks

London has a rising population and workforce, especially in the finance and IT sectors. “Silicon Roundabouts” are ten a penny here as London overcomes global tech hubs.

What that means is London is a hub for talent. If you trade from here, especially as more and more businesses go virtual, you will meet people from here – be it virtually or in person.

London is a place where opportunists hang around every corner, on the end of every phone line listening in on business deals and when you’re operating here virtually, you can tap into that buzz.

4. Expertise

The City of London’s contribution alone to the UK's national income was estimated at £45 billion for 2014, or 3% of GVA, while London accounts for £334 billion or 22% of the UK's GVA. (Source: Centre for Cities and Cambridge Econometrics, June 2015)

London as a whole made a net contribution of £34 billion to the UK Exchequer in the tax year to the end of March 2014, generating £127 billion in tax revenues. That’s 21% of total UK tax receipts.  (Source: CEBR, London's Finances and Revenues, November 2014.)

5. Prestige

London is a world city, a global city, a bastion of culture, a temple of finance, a –

I could go on.  But London is seen and known as a tireless innovator of business, art and culture, becoming a beacon for foreign investment because of its reputation for professionalism, innovation and prestige – each in equal measure.

London’s monopoly board attracts enterprise like blood to a hammerhead shark.

6. Credibility

London Virtual Offices providers can and do crow about London as the global centre of several key sectors.

Londoners in the finance, insurance, IT and telecoms sectors have been steadily on the up since 2009, rising from 1.28 million to 1.56 million by 2014. That beats the 1.1 million employed in the same industries in NYC and the 800k in Hong Kong.

In 2014, financial and insurance services contributed £126.9 billion in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy, 8.0% of the UK’s total GVA.

London has been one of the most stable and stimulating experiments in co-habitation since that bloke what invented cities. A recent poll showed that investors consistently choose London because of the political and legal stability, growth, market size, accessibility and available workforce.

Finance, insurance, law – London beats them all.