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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Turkey

15th February 2013

Florence Nightingale goes to London

My recent (cheeringly popular) blog ‘Why is everyone investing in the UK? why aren’t you?’ noted the brilliance of Britain as a top destination for European HQs for businesses from Turkey and elsewhere.

One recent example of this is the recent decision by the Turkish Group Florence Nightingale to set up its European HQs in London, in the famous medical district of Harley Street.

Group Florence Nightingale has three general hospitals, a medical centre, a teaching hospital and a clinical research centre, making it one of the largest private hospital groups in Turkey.  By establishing its European HQ in London it hopes more swiftly to be able to access wider European markets.  It is also keen to start knowledge partnerships with UK universities and has already established relationships with King’s College School of Nursing and Midwifery to help train Turkish nurses and midwives.

Why is everyone investing in the UK?  Why aren’t you?

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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