A migrant's story: "Everything works so well in the UK" When Valentina Giordano decided on a career in urban design, she chose London over her native Milan. Unlike her friends in Italy, "who felt you had to know somebody," she thought the UK job market was more meritocratic. She said that having studied town planning at University College London, and then taken a master's in architecture, "I felt, with my portfolio, I could be confident about applying for different jobs. I always felt it was quite fair. And it was also easy to change jobs. By contrast, said Giordano, 36, an urban designer at Terry Farrell who lives in north London, "hardly any of my friends in Italy have a full-time contract." A lot of my friends are quite resigned to it. When I tell them how it works here, they almost find it unbelievable. The situation is so different. The UK works not only for Giordano, who first came here as an 18-year-old, but also for her husband, Pierre, 36, who is from Luxembourg. He recently set up a UK branch of a European policy valuation consultancy. Again, her friends in Italy "almost didn't believe that you could do that, just set up a company." It is not just the jobs market that the couple find attractive. Everything works so well in the UK. I pay my council tax, and everything is OK. If there is a problem with the lighting, or the rubbish, you can report it. Of course, it's not perfect. But I feel I actually have a voice. If there is a planning application, they send you a letter for you to have a say. You feel you are really participating, not just being told of a decision made by somebody else. I don't think my Italian friends feel like that. The only reason to move back to Italy would be for family needs, to be close to my parents. Not to look for a job. Once you live in London and you like it - and we love it - to move somewhere else in Europe is quite hard because it is such a stimulating place to live. This article was amended on 5 November 2014 to correct a description of Giordano's husband's job.