Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), says the narrative of a dying market is overstated and points to a series of reforms aimed at attracting new listings and capital.
Why listings have slipped
The number of companies on the LSE fell from 2,429 in 2015 to 1,534 in May 2026, a decade low according to data compiled by Statista. More than 30 firms have left or plan to leave this year, including asset manager Schroders and airline easyJet, both agreeing to U.S. takeovers.
Compared with the United States, the UK market suffers from a smaller domestic investor base and shallower pools of capital, which has depressed valuations and made London-listed firms attractive to foreign buyers and private-equity takeovers.
Reforms under the LSE chief
Since joining the exchange in 2021, Hoggett has overseen a sweeping reform agenda. In 2024 the UK rewrote its listing rules so that most acquisitions no longer require a shareholder vote, giving founders more control after listing. The LSE also eased regulatory burdens on AIM, its junior market, and launched Pisces, a secondary market for trading existing shares.
"There's been a rise in acquisitions since the shareholder-vote rules were scrapped, and smaller companies are already using AIM's revised rules," Hoggett said.
According to PwC's UK M&A Mid-Year Outlook, total UK M&A value more than doubled to £124.2 billion in the first half of 2026, even though the number of deals fell.
Signs of a possible turnaround
Hoggett highlights a growing pipeline of IPOs, saying the exchange now has the largest pipeline since 2005.
"We have the largest pipeline for IPOs since 2005," she added.
UK IPO proceeds more than tripled in the first half of 2026 versus the same period a year earlier, according to EY data. London remains Europe's dominant capital market, recording more than twice the number of equity offerings of the next most active European exchange in the same period.
The Uzbekistan National Investment Fund listed on the LSE earlier this year, raising around $603 million, the first international equity offering from Uzbekistan, but it was one of only seven London IPOs in the first half of the year, worth $780 million in total. By contrast, the United States completed 72 IPOs raising $128 billion.
Of the 21 UK companies that have floated in the US since 2014, four are trading up, 13 have delisted and the remaining four are trading down by an average of 71 percent, according to LSE data.
Looking ahead: digital trading and incentives
Hoggett is betting on modernising the exchange's infrastructure. The LSE plans to launch LSE 24, a 24-hour digital trading platform, in the first half of 2027, alongside a Digital Securities Depository developed with crypto exchange Kraken. Client testing is slated for the end of the year.
She also calls for greater public investment in UK equities, noting that stamp duty still applies to British shares while tax-relieved pension and ISA funds have no requirement to invest domestically. "If we give fiscal incentives to invest, we would like at least a portion of that to back Britain," she said.
By modernising rules, expanding digital trading and encouraging domestic investment, Hoggett believes London can retain its role as a gateway for companies from India, China, the Middle East and beyond.