Prestige projects and good people
Pros
Structural projects are world leading in every way. London leaders are generally trustworthy and talented. Peers are supportive, collegiate, passionate and high performing. No shareholders or partners and profit/loss is shared across the globe, allowing some truly long term thinking and moral choices (e.g. no more fossil fuel projects, relatively slow to fire during a downturn) International transfer opportunities (if you are 1) flexible, 2) lucky, or 3) very persistent).
Cons
Expectations of high performance and commitment, even in the times or places where the project infrastructure and personal support are not up to the same standard. Base pay fit structural engineering in London seems relatively low, and profit share is inconsistent. This is justified by being a nice and exciting place to work (it's kept me there for a long time). The unique humanist and philosophical culture continues to slowly morph into a centralised corporate structure that focuses on safe, profit-making decisions, which in turn justify rewards for directors (who are gain/lose a much higher % of their pay via profit share).
