About this mission
Our January 2025 mission to Los Angeles supported creative industries, media-tech and clean-tech businesses entering the US West Coast. Delegates joined a "Greater Together" reception with senior figures from the British Consulate-General, met with LA-based investors, studios and clean-energy operators, and took part in curated one-to-one meetings arranged with the Department for Business and Trade. The programme included a UK–US aviation and tourism roundtable, a rooftop networking evening in Santa Monica, and site visits to key innovation hubs across Culver City and Downtown LA. The mission concluded with one signed distribution agreement and 10 active conversations progressing towards partnership.
Mission report
West London Chamber Joins the UK's Largest Ever Trade Mission to the US
Sam Liu, Director of the West London Chamber of Commerce, travelled to Los Angeles in May 2026 as part of Greater Together LA, the biggest UK trade mission to the United States to date.
The event ran from 18 to 22 May 2026, with the main summit taking place over 19 to 21 May. It followed King Charles's state visit to the US and built directly on that momentum. Over 250 UK business and cultural leaders made the trip, flying out on a specially chartered British Airways flight alongside political and corporate delegates.
The mission was organised under the UK Government's GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Campaign and led by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Minister for Economic Transformation Blair McDougall. It was co-hosted by Sir Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, and Sir Jony Ive, founder of LoveFrom and former Chief Design Officer at Apple. British Airways, American Airlines, PwC UK and TSL served as presenting partners, with Payward, YouTube and the Wall Street Journal as official partners.
At the centre of the programme was a two day thought leadership summit themed "Unexpected Connections," featuring more than 30 speakers drawn from sectors identified in the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy, spanning AI, quantum computing, fintech, cultural exchange and scientific innovation. Alongside the summit, the TSL Business Lounge gave delegates space for direct deal making, and the wider week included public facing events such as a Premier League watch party, a British Music Embassy showcase, and exhibitions from Study UK and VisitBritain.
The scale of the relationship underpinning the mission is considerable. Investment stock between the UK and US sits at around £1.2 trillion, supporting over 2.6 million jobs across both countries, with a trading relationship worth in the region of £330 billion. The mission also arrived on the back of the removal of US tariffs on UK made whisky and a fresh £300 million investment commitment from AstraZeneca.
For the West London Chamber, being represented at an event of this size puts the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow directly in front of the same rooms as the UK's largest corporates and government departments, and signals the Chamber's ambition to connect its members into international trade opportunities rather than just local ones.
More detail on what came out of the trip for the Chamber and its members to follow.
Mission gallery
