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London and Paris are Europe's most business friendly cities, while Moscow can expect the biggest influx of companies over the next five years, according to the 19th annual European Cities Monitor report from Cushman & Wakefield.

The global real estate services firm also named Barcelona as the city with the highest quality of life, as cities as diverse as Brussels, Zurich, Dusseldorf and Manchester all rose significantly in the rankings.

Based on interviews with senior managers and board directors in charge of location for 500 of Europe’s largest companies, the annual report considers criteria such as transport links, telecommunications, access to markets, availability and quality of staff, cost of office space and quality of life.

London is ranked the number one city in half of the 12 major rankings including access to markets, availability of qualified staff and international and internal transport links. It scores poorly, however, on the cost of staff, the cost of office space and levels of pollution.

James Young, Cushman & Wakefield's City of London office head, says London is one of the main destinations for international investment and this will increase as it benefits from domestic investment in infrastructure and sporting venues as host of the 2012 Olympic Games.
 
Brussels enters into the top five of the overall ranking (up to 4th from 6th) at the expense of Barcelona and Amsterdam which move down to 5th and 6th respectively. Frankfurt is ranked 3rd. The biggest risers are all regional cities including Zurich (up to 10th from 13th), Dusseldorf (up to 12th from 16th) and Manchester (up to 14th from 18th).

The 10 best cities in which to locate a business today:

1. London
2. Paris
3. Frankfurt
4. Brussels
5. Barcelona
6. Amsterdam
7. Madrid
8. Berlin
9. Munich
10. Zurich
 

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