London’s stock market has staged a rebound with a late spurt in activity driving the strongest year for listings since 2021, data shows.
There were 11 new listings, or initial public offerings (IPOs), on the London Stock Exchange in 2025, analysis from PwC shows, raising £1.9 billion in total proceeds. This is the highest since 2021, when £16.8 billion was raised, and is more than double last year's £700 million.
A late flurry of IPOs helped to boost the market, with £1.3 billion of the total proceeds raised during the final quarter, following a dearth of activity.
Vhernie Manickavasagar, the IPO leader at PwC UK, said: “London has delivered its strongest year for IPO and listing activity since 2021.
“In addition, global multibillion-pound companies selected the London Stock Exchange for their international listings in 2025, the largest of which had a market capitalisation of £16 billion in December 2025.
“These developments underscore the resurgence of London’s capital markets and its returning appeal as a leading listing destination.”
Public investment is expected to grow by £13 billion in 2026-27, the biggest two-year increase recorded since at least the global financial crisis, according to PwC predictions.
Most of the public spending will be concentrated in London, where it will amount to more than £2,000 per head. The rest will be “evenly distributed” across the UK, the report said, with spending in the North West and Scotland reaching up to £2,000 per head.
But business investment in the UK is expected to stagnate due to weaker business sentiment and profit growth.
Barret Kupelian, PwC UK's chief economist, said increasing tariffs and migration restrictions globally were likely to “spill over into other domains” including capital flows and services.
“Businesses, households and society at large will need to adapt, probably in ways they are not used to,” Mr Kupelian said. This means the UK is likely to focus on domestic growth.
“There will be a much stronger focus on levers for domestic growth, including public investment picking up at a record pace and continued pressure to deliver on house building and on building infrastructure faster,” he added.
AI will directly add £2 billion to UK GDP in 2026 but this is less than one-tenth of the total rise. The impact will gradually rise with deeper adoption to £23 billion by 2032, the report said.
It is also likely increase its foreign investment with political allies including the European Union. “We are likely to see changes to our relationship with the EU as the Trade and Co-operation Agreement is up for review,” Mr Kupelian said.
