City figure builds Middle Eastern ties

While delegations from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were among those attending the International Armoured Vehicles exhibition yesterday, a senior City figure was heading in the opposite direction to "bang the drum" for British business in the Middle East.

David Wootton, the Lord Mayor of London, is heading a delegation of financiers, asset managers and lawyers on a tour of five Gulf countries which will aim to persuade oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia which are seeking to diversify their economies to use British companies to expand their skills base.

The Gulf nations have long been key customers for Britain's defence industry, with Saudi Arabia at one time accounting for 75 per cent of all UK arms sales. As well as signing a £10bn deal to provide the Eurofighter to Saudi Arabia, British companies have recently sold armoured vehicles to the desert kingdom as well as crowd-control ammunition to Qatar and heavy machine guns to the UAE.

In a newspaper article explaining his trip, Mr Wootton made no mention of defence sales and focused on building ties between the City and the Gulf in areas such as education, Islamic finance and the management of infrastructure projects, saying such links should be strengthened "despite the recent turbulence" of the Arab Spring.

Mr Wootton wrote: "The past 12 months have seen momentous change in the Gulf as the Arab Spring has reshaped regional politics. We remain committed to strengthening ties."