On Thursday, 12th March, Richard Haigh, Group Managing Director at Brand Finance, joined London & Partners at the Tourism Means Business Conference 2026 sharing insights from the Brand Finance Global City Index.
Tourism Means Business is London & Partners’ flagship industry event, bringing together senior marketers and event professionals from across the capital’s tourism and culture sector. The 2026 programme featured insight-led discussions on London’s global positioning, industry trends, and opportunities for collaboration.
Designed to measure how cities are perceived internationally, the Brand Finance Global City Index explores how those perceptions influence real-world decisions: where people choose to visit, live, study, work, or invest. Drawing on the views of 15,000+ respondents across 20 countries, the study captures global public opinion and focuses specifically on how cities are perceived by international audiences.
The findings reinforce London as the world’s strongest city brand, ranking #1 globally thanks to its cultural influence, global connectivity, and world-class institutions.
Richard joined a panel discussion with London & Partners’ Ailbhe (Alva) McNabola and Rose Wangen-Jones, and Hiltons' Remco Norden, where the group highlighted how London’s leading businesses and cultural institutions can work together to strengthen the capital’s global appeal. When commercial brands, attractions, and the city brand reinforce one another – supported by a clear, unified place brand strategy – the impact is far greater.
Richard has over a decade in value-based marketing, brand valuation and intangible asset valuation. He sat on the ISO Technical Committee 289 on Brand Valuation and contributed to the Brand Evaluation standard ISO 20671. He lectures on brand valuation and other topics to business schools and has a regular guest lecture series at London Business School.
While at Brand Finance he has overseen an array of the internal initiatives and studies while also leading many of the client relationships. With experience from B2B and B2C industries and brands, Richard has worked across all of Brand Finance’s service lines as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing but particularly specialises in valuation.
In addition, he has a BA in Mathematics from the University of Oxford.
