Dame Julia Hoggett, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), called on the British government to introduce structural incentives to encourage domestic investment. Speaking on the BBC's Big Boss podcast on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, Hoggett stated that the government needs to make the UK market more attractive to prevent large companies from seeking growth through overseas listings. Her comments follow a period in which several firms have moved their primary listings away from London.
The LSE's main market currently includes approximately 930 companies with a collective market value of about £4.9 trillion. According to LSE data, international businesses from more than 80 countries represent nearly 40% of the market. However, recent years have seen the departure of firms including takeaway service Just Eat to Amsterdam, travel operator Tui to Frankfurt, and Flutter, the owner of Paddy Power, to New York.
The number of new companies listing in London has also decreased. In the previous year, London hosted 23 initial public offerings (IPOs) that raised £2.1 billion. By comparison, U.S. markets saw 354 IPOs raising $44 billion (£33 billion) during the same period. To address this, Hoggett proposed the removal of the 0.5% tax Britons pay when purchasing UK shares—a tax not applied to foreign stock purchases—and the reintroduction of tax credits for domestic investors, which the UK previously offered until 2016.
For the roughly 930 companies listed on the LSE, the ability to attract capital domestically is linked to their market valuation and long-term growth prospects. If these firms continue to move to exchanges like Frankfurt, Amsterdam, or New York, the UK may see a decline in its status as a financial hub. The scale of the disparity is marked by the fact that U.S. IPO fundraising was more than 15 times greater than that of the UK in the most recent reporting year.
Whether the government will implement these suggested changes remains unconfirmed. A government spokesperson declined to state if stock market reforms would be included in the upcoming Budget this month. The spokesperson said that tax decisions are for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to announce at fiscal events. The Budget is scheduled for October 2026. The next steps for the London Stock Exchange will depend on these upcoming policy decisions regarding tax credits and transaction levies.