London is the leading financial centre in Europe and one of the top three in the world. Financial services include a variety of different types of financial activity.
There are many different international financial markets based here trading everything from commodities like coffee and oil to precious metals and foreign currencies. London is also home to the London stock exchange, which allows companies to raise investment by selling shares.
London is a large international banking centre; there are almost twice as many foreign banks with offices in London as New York. London is also a major centre for accountancy and insurance. Many of these financial companies are based in the City of London, sometimes referred to as the Square Mile, but many companies are also located in other parts of Greater London, including the Docklands and Croydon.
This sector is London's most important economically, by some margin, and as well as the large number of people directly employed by these organisations, many more work for supporting services, providing technical support, information, expertise and administrative assistance. There are a huge number of opportunities to work in this area, for every different type of financial organisation.
Most employers in this industry will expect potential employees to have a solid grasp of the key skills including good interpersonal, numeracy and IT abilities. Because the many jobs in finance vary considerably, each of them has different requirements. To progress to the most senior positions you will usually find you need to have studied a related subject to a high level. However, there are also opportunities for students who have not taken this route.
One of the attractions of working in finance is that successful individuals can earn more than they might expect to earn in other comparative industries. Given the frequently large figures involved, talented employees are in constant demand and companies compete to offer the most lucrative packages to the very best workers. However, it is not only those in the top positions that can expect their employers to reward good work, and junior staff often receive attractive benefits as well as good training and promotional prospects.
