Visit to Switzerland

UK and Switzerland host the two largest financial centres in Europe with our trading relationship worth almost £46 billion, half of which is in services.

At the start of May I was delighted to visit Switzerland - I attended a fireside chat with the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce hosted by Schroders Co Bank AG at their new premises in Zurich. Discussions focused on risk, entrepreneurship, international trade, the bilateral UK - Switzerland relationship and the advantages the UK has to offer to Swiss financial and professional services companies that would like to do more business in and with the UK. Key points included:

- Role and function of the Lord Mayor – as UK’s ambassador for the financial, professional, legal and maritime services sector
- Special friendship between the Zurich and the City of London guilds
- “Growth Unleashed” Mayoral Theme

I was thrilled to then attend Sechseläuten and march alongside the Zünfte of Zurich. The UK and Switzerland are unique in their long and thriving tradition of guilds, many of them dating back to the medieval period. The colourful festival was a fantastic opportunity to reaffirm the bonds of friendship many of them enjoy, including the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers and the Zunft zur Waag.