The mad French influx to London

Over the period 2013-2014, no fewer than 5,000 jobs were created by French companies in Great Britain. This figure goes some way to explaining why more and more of our compatriots are moving to London. Of course, the City remains the magnet that attracts them across the Channel. The British are suffering from a shortage of engineers and are keen to learn from their neighbours in highly specialised areas of finance such as risk management, modelling and derivatives. What better proof of this interest than the presence of Xavier Rolet at the head of the London Stock Exchange? The success of France's leading business schools also bears witness to this, with ESCP, EDHEC and Sciences Po opening their London campuses one after the other.

However, the profile of French people on the British scene continues to diversify, and finance is no longer their sole objective. Young or old, waiters or gallery directors, artists or pastry chefs - the Pâtisserie des Rêves has just opened its London branch! The famous and the not-so-famous are all tempted by an Anglo-Saxon lifestyle.

Olivier Meyer, Director of Partnerships for CrowdBnk, explains that London is perceived as an attractive city, full of opportunities, where the administrative simplicity makes it easy to set up a business. "It attracts people from all over the world, but especially Europeans who don't need a visa, which makes it easier to get a job, he points out. Those who leave France, with such a well-developed social protection system, are people who want to take risks, who are prepared to work hard to succeed in a different environment, with little social safety net if they don't succeed."

Try your luck

Despite this, more and more people are taking on insecure jobs, prepared to try their luck at any price. "It has to be said that it's not very difficult for the French to find a job, as they are appreciated for their sociability, their rigour at work, their outspokenness... but also for their accent, which continues to make everyone fall in love..."says Carine Moëllé, a nurse at King's College Hospital. Moreover, the phenomenon of diversification of profiles, and therefore of social classes, means that the French population of London almost resembles that of France, minus the retired.

While it is difficult to have precise statistics when "only" 120,000 French nationals are registered with consular services, it is estimated that there are 200,000 people in Greater London, perhaps many more. "Not all of them are permanent residents," explains a spokesperson for the French embassy in London. Many French people settle for medium-term periods, a year or just a few months. And this is true whether they are at the beginning or in the middle of their career, because it gives them an interesting international experience."Since the return of economic growth in the 1990s, the French population has continued to grow steadily. "We need to be careful when referring to London as France's sixth largest city, as we are basing our calculations on figures for the inner city, not the conurbations."says the embassy spokesperson. London would be the twentieth or even thirtieth city in France...