Business yesterday urged Boris Johnson not to close the Greater London Authority’s overseas offices as the new Tory London mayor announced a review of the 'strategic role and costs' of the £1.4m a year international outposts.

A decision on the future of the six offices funded by the GLA – operating in Caracas, Delhi, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai and Brussels – would be reached by the autumn, City Hall said. The Chinese offices are forecast to cost £594,000 to run in 2008-09, the Brussels office £411,000 and the Indian offices £371,021. A consultant is employed in Moscow at an annual cost of £35,000.

Financial Times