Restoring investor confidence in the UK IPO market hinges not just on regulatory reforms but on elevating boardroom readiness.
When high-growth companies decide where to list, they’re weighing more than regulatory requirements—they’re asking where their story will be understood and where governance is taken seriously. In 2024, too many looked past London.
Despite its reputation as a global financial hub, London’s IPO market has faltered. With just 18 listings raising under $800 million, the London Stock Exchange recorded its weakest IPO performance since 2010. Meanwhile, rivals surged: Hong Kong drew in $83 billion across 66 listings, and Nasdaq welcomed 171 new entrants to its market.
Why the divergence? It’s tempting to blame regulation or market conditions. But those explanations miss the heart of the issue. From my work with boards preparing for public listings, it’s clear: the City isn’t suffering from a lack of ambition—it’s suffering from a lack of governance readiness.
Governance isn’t a compliance chore. It’s the foundation on which trust, investor confidence, and scale are built. Until we position governance as a strategic advantage—not an afterthought—London will continue to lose listings not to better companies, but to better-prepared ones.
2024 Global IPO Performance Highlights
- London Stock Exchange (LSE): 18 IPOs raised £777.7 million (approx. $1 billion USD)
Source: EY UK Newsroom
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): 34 IPOs raised $17 billion
Source: NYSE IPO Center
- Nasdaq: 171 IPOs raised $22.7 billion
Source: Nasdaq News Release
- Euronext Amsterdam: 23 IPOs raised €6.6 billion (approx. $7.2 billion USD)
Source: PwC IPO Watch EMEA H1 2024
- Singapore Exchange (SGX): 4 IPOs raised $31 million
Source: The Straits Times
- Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX): 66 IPOs raised $83 billion
Source: HKEX News Release
Note: All figures represent IPO-only data, excluding follow-on offerings or other forms of equity issuance. Discrepancies between sources often stem from whether they include total equity raised or just IPO proceeds. This table reflects pure IPO performance for clarity and consistency.
Governance: London’s Underrated Advantage
Strong governance signals clarity, control, and readiness—qualities that investors seek in any serious listing. Yet too often, it’s treated as a closing checklist rather than a starting advantage. For London to compete globally, governance needs to sit at the centre of dealmaking—not as a compliance tick-box, but as a platform for leadership and strategic acceleration.
Companies that attract the strongest investor confidence are those that embed governance early. They demonstrate disciplined oversight, unified vision, and the agility to respond to scrutiny. This is governance maturity—and it’s increasingly non-negotiable. A 2023 McKinsey analysis found over 30% of stalled IPOs were linked to governance weaknesses, from fragmented boards to patchy ESG oversight. Meanwhile, a 2024 Deloitte survey revealed 62% of directors feel ill-equipped to handle the speed and complexity of today’s deal landscape. And PwC’s Corporate Directors Survey confirms that less than half of boards conduct regular effectiveness reviews.
The lesson is clear: boards that underinvest in governance don’t just risk regulatory exposure—they lose investor confidence before they’ve even rung the bell.
A Real-World Example: From Siloed Board to Investor-Ready
Working with a mid-cap tech company preparing to list, I saw a board made up of experienced individuals, yet operating in silos. ESG was seen as an external matter, not part of board reporting. Once we integrated ESG into their governance framework, investor confidence followed, and with it, a 15% uplift in valuation. In today’s market environment, governance is no longer a backdrop, instead it’s the lever that shapes strategy and secures investor trust.
This theme echoes through BlackRock’s latest stewardship priorities, which call for clear oversight of long-term strategy and ESG risks.
Likewise, the Edelman B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, highlights transparency and board effectiveness as key differentiators in institutional decision-making.
Three Governance Moves Every Listing Board Should Make
- Run a Governance Stress Test — Simulate your IPO under pressure. Ask your board what happens if scrutiny lands tomorrow. The gaps you uncover in rehearsal will save you in reality.
- Create a Transactions Subcommittee — Pull together legal, finance, and non-execs to focus solely on deal-readiness. This tight-knit group should be empowered to accelerate clarity and decision-making.
- Integrate ESG into board reporting— Not as a standalone agenda, but as part of the core business conversation. While political headwinds may have shifted the spotlight, investors continue to view ESG as fundamental to long-term value creation.
The City’s Choice
Effective governance is the institutional architecture of trust. It enables strategic clarity, accountability, and long-term value creation. For London to remain competitive as a global listing destination, the conversation must move beyond regulation and toward readiness.
As the UK revisits its IPO framework, we should look beyond what needs cutting and focus on what needs strengthening. Governance is not the hurdle; it’s the hinge. The lever that builds confidence, invites capital, and ensures that companies scale with integrity.
Until next time, here’s to raising more than capital—let’s raise the governance bar,
Erika.
Erika Eliasson-Norris is CEO of Beyond Governance, where she advises boards, executives, and founders on building resilient governance structures that support long-term growth and institutional integrity. She also serves as an Independent Assessor for the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, bringing her governance expertise to one of the UK’s most significant institutional accountability reviews.
