Lack of airport capacity around London is a growing cause for concern among businesses based in the capital, according to a new study.
KPMG surveys CEOs and other senior figures across a range of sectors, including banking, energy and technology, every six months.
The latest survey showed that expansion at Heathrow is of growing importance for the respondents, as is increasing capacity at other airports around London.
Increasing rail capacity and connections was ranked in the top spot for “preserving London’s economic pre-eminence”.
However, in second place was making existing airports more effective, followed by expanding Heathrow in third place and expanding London airports other than LHR in fourth.
The importance given to airport expansion has risen compared to six months ago, when growth at Heathrow came in at fourth place and expanding other airports at seventh.
The responses come amid a background of growing unease about future economic and business prospects for companies in the capital.
Some 56% feel more pessimistic than six months ago about the future of the economy, more than double the figure from KPMG’s last survey in June.
The percentage of respondents who feel London is a good place to do business also fell, from 87% six months ago to 83% in the latest survey.