From accounting and legal advice to tech consulting and marketing strategy, many of the world’s top business services companies have headquarters in London.
London’s business services companies provide a combination of expert professional advice and specialised services across many subsectors that can help you plan your next event or business operations in the capital.
Expert business services companies
Management consulting
World-renowned management consulting firms with offices in London, such as McKinsey, BCG and Bain, offer expert advice to the world’s leading businesses, institutions and governments. Their widely acclaimed services are designed to help clients drive change, growth and bottom-line impact.
Legal advice
The UK legal services sector is recognised globally for its quality and excellence. London’s “Magic Circle” is a group of five highly prestigious, corporate-focused law firms based in the capital – Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Slaughter and May. They provide essential legal services that support global business operations.
Accounting and auditing
The “Big Four” refers to the world’s four largest accounting firms and includes Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and EY. All four companies have offices in London – and three of them, their global headquarters. They provide audit, assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax compliance services.
Marketing and advertising
With one of the world’s largest creative services industries located in the UK, London provides both inspiration and talent to the dynamic marketing and advertising sector.
Creative industries not only cover film, music and gaming, but also advertising and marketing, design and IT services. Leading global marketing and advertising companies with offices in the capital include Ogilvy, WPP and Saatchi & Saatchi. These organisations are experts in digital and traditional marketing and advertising, enabling brands to achieve broad visibility and create high-impact campaigns.
Tech consulting and IT services
London is a world-recognised hub for developing new technologies and has a long history in innovation. Global leaders in tech consulting, IT and digital transformation, such as Accenture and Capgemini, can offer you integrated services with deep sector expertise.
Market research
London is also home to global leaders in market research. World-famous companies such as Nielsen and Ipsos provide expert and reliable audience insights, data and analytics. These companies are some of London’s largest and most innovative research agencies, working for a wide range of global businesses.
London's business services in numbers
generated in 2023 by the UK legal services sector
European tech companies headquartered in London
spend by the UK advertising industry in 2024
GVA generated by creative industries in 2022
Key events for London's business services
From management and accounting to legal advice and advertising, don't miss some of the business services industry's biggest events taking place every year in London:
- Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Awards: the annual event celebrates the outstanding work of consultants and clients across the industry with 25 categories of awards.
- LegalEx Expo & Conference: the UK’s largest legal event attracts more than 1,200 high-level decision makers, ambitious firms and a forward-thinking crowd to explore the latest legal technologies and hear from 30-plus innovative speakers.
- London Tech Week: the annual event showcases tech innovation and success in Europe’s leading technology hub with 45,000 attendees, 400-plus speakers, 1,000 investors and more than 120 events.
- Marketing Week's Festival of Marketing: the annual festival brings knowledge, connections and tools for more than 800 marketers and 100-plus industry-leading speakers across seven stages.
- Advertising Week Europe: a global gathering of more than 7,000 marketing and communications leaders exploring key business trends and issues shaping the industry across 75-plus sessions and workshops.
Learn more about London’s business services sector with Grow London.
Success story
Concordia
How did the London Convention Bureau help you with your event?
The London Convention Bureau proved a valuable partner from day one, advising on timing, location and positioning in order to add value and differentiate from other events taking place across the city.
About Concordia
Concordia is the premier global convener of heads of state, government officials, C-suite executives and leaders from nonprofits, think tanks and foundations, dedicated to finding market-driven, cross-sector solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Concordia’s Regional Initiatives examine the most pressing challenges in a specific area and identify opportunities for meaningful collaboration.
What event were you planning in London?
We sought to host the first London-based 2025 Concordia Europe Summit, an invitation-only gathering exploring the unique positioning of the city across geographies, policies and investment opportunities.
How did the London Convention Bureau help?
The team supported vendor bids and participated in site visits to help find the perfect location and unique reception moments that achieved Concordia's goal of blending historical with modern.
What was the outcome?
We welcomed a total of 424 attendees, including 63 speakers who joined us on stage across three days. These participants came from 38 countries, with the UK leading at 248 attendees.
We also hosted 24 sessions, totalling more than 19 hours of programming, and introduced seven breakout discussions, which brought together 145 participants.
Read the full case study to learn why Concordia's event in London was a success and the key reasons it chose the UK capital.
