Nearly two centuries ago, the Embassy of the Republic of Texas operated from the cellars of Berry Bros & Rudd, London's oldest wine merchant. A faded “Texan Legation” plaque still clings to the wall outside the St James's Street store, a relic of a brief diplomatic era that ended when Texas joined the US in 1845 — and its diplomats reportedly sailed home leaving an unpaid rent bill.
Now the state is back. Just up the road, Texas has opened a dedicated office to “grow international trade and tourism and support activities that are key to the economy.” The move comes as trade between Texas and the UK already runs at about $17bn a year, and the state wants even closer business ties.
“Texas opens a new London trade office nearly 200 years after its first embassy closed, seeking to boost $17bn trade and dual stock exchange listings.”
Senator Tan Parker, Republican leader of the Texas State Senate, says the office could pave the way for “dual listings between the London Stock Exchange and the Texas Stock Exchange” — the upstart challenger to New York known as “Y'all Street”. Parker hopes it will create jobs and opportunities for both Texas firms eyeing the UK market and British companies looking to enter Texas.
Austin's mayor, Kirk Watson, told BBC London that his city — “25 years ago … becoming a big international city” — is now “maturing into that international role”. “Austin has become a focal point in a global economy,” he said. “Looking to places like London will help us with that.”
Watson also stressed the importance of city-to-city collaboration on renewables, climate, artificial intelligence and data centres, highlighting Austin's municipally-owned utility as a talking point. He argued for “subnational diplomacy” amid “confusion and chaos on the world scene”, calling London a “leader” on the international business stage.
Yet the expansion comes against a backdrop of London's mixed economic fortunes. Economist Alexander Harvey of Oxford Economics notes that while employment growth in the capital has outpaced the rest of the UK, “productivity has broadly stagnated since the global financial crisis.”