‘Time to Grow’ – we ask how we can now create a culture of agency and growth to re-vitalise our economy and society in the UK?

The London Symposium is a unique event among business schools - in the UK and anywhere. It brings together MBA students, experts from industry and polymaths from across disciplines to explore the issues and opportunities of our time in London, our home and leading city on the world stage in business, finance and culture. The Symposium has hosted leaders and innovators from space travel to finance, economics to digital gaming, sports leadership to energy and infrastructure.

Its philosophy pulls from the Ancient Greek Symposia, or debating chamber, and blends divergent perspectives on what is going on around us to engage MBA delegates directly in the debate on where we could take our city, its industries and businesses. In the spirit of the Royal Society motto, Nullius in verba – ‘take nobody’s word for it’ – students are encouraged not to assume the first or prevailing view is the right one, but to bring together diverse inputs and make sense of ambiguity and difference themselves to find the truth. It is an exciting, interactive and enriching experience for all across 4 days in April.

2023 is an extra special year as it marks the 10th anniversary of the London Symposium, and the second as Bayes Business School (previously Cass Business School).

In the 2022 London Symposium we took a leaf out of Marc Andreessen’s essay written during the Covid crisis proclaiming it was ‘time to build’. The immediate and de-stabilising impact of Covid and the lockdown response had shone a stark light on the inability of most advanced nations to meet the needs of its citizens in times of crisis; let alone those countries still struggling to develop.

While shattering in many ways, this exogenous shock could have been the catalyst for raising our game to transform our industries, economies and the services our societies need by re-imagining solutions and spurring new investment. However, arguably this has not happened yet, and the shock has clearly underlined a deeper problem – UK economic growth was in long-term decline long before the Covid pandemic. Indeed, for the whole of the 21st century we have had low growth (averaging just over 1% GDP). The signs and symptoms were developing before that with GDP, with gross business investment falling as a share of GDP since the late 80’s, the rate in growth of labour productivity now at pre- WW1 levels, and a fiscal reliance in the government and private sectors on debt instead of liquidity.

After a year of post- pandemic turmoil, the UK is focussed on filling what it describes as a ‘fiscal black hole’. But is that enough - what should the ambition for our economy be now? In 2023 is it really enough to plot a new path away from inflation or recession for a better fiscal balance? Would that meet the needs of older generations, as well as the young and their desire for affordable education, to own their own homes, to create exciting careers, industries and shape the future of their world?

In the London Symposium 2023 we address the question of what we should be aiming for now and how we create the agency for growth. We look at what growth means today, where it can come from, and how we stimulate it. If we are to aim higher how do we ignite sustained growth, innovation and productivity? We explore how we can create a culture of agency, individually and collectively to start and scale new creativity in business to revitalise our economy and our future. Our theme in 2023 is ‘Time to Grow’.

Theme across the 4 days

This theme, ‘Time to Grow’ will flow across 4 days starting with an economic picture for London on the world stage and moving to what this means for business direction and growth, the challenges and opportunities for those starting and scaling new businesses, for business leaders and the creation of a culture of agency and belief that we can create new opportunity. We will explore and debate these topics in 4 landmark venues reflecting the cultural and historic fabric of London’s growth; we will be at Bayes Business School, The British Museum, The British Film Institute and The London Transport Museum.