By Elishya Perera
LONDON (CU)_Global business leaders have found that Britain is a more attractive investment proposition for multinational companies than it was before Brexit.
In PwC’s annual CEO Survey, which involved more than 5,000 international business leaders, the United Kingdom overtook India as the world’s fourth most promising growth opportunity, while the US, China and Germany remained the top three.
“The UK’s positive standing highlights what matters most to global business leaders,” the chairman of PwC UK, Kevin Ellis, told The Times.
“The EU trade deal drew to a close much of the uncertainty around Brexit. It’s hard to overestimate the importance of political certainty and stability when it comes to CEO decision making.”
5,050 chief executives from 100 countries participated in the PwC survey; half of them ran businesses with annual revenues of more than US$1 billion, while 60 per cent of them were private.
According to the survey, 11 per cent of these bosses chose the United Kingdom as a top three target, which was a significant rise from autumn 2019, when the survey was last conducted, as this number stood at 9 per cent back then.
It was found that Chinese executives in particular, showed interest in Britain, with 13 per cent of them putting the European nation in their top three investment targets, in comparison to 3 per cent in 2019. Interest in Britain as a growth prospect also increased in India, quite significantly, as well as in Canada and New Zealand.
However, concerns have been raised regarding chancellor Rishi Sunak’s decision to increase corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent, which is seen as a “bold” move, considering the fact that UK’s economy is hanging in the balance.
“Our tax regime forms part of the UK’s prospectus for business leaders and investors,” Ellis said. “In my experience, while the headline rate is important, investors look at tax systems in the round, the full package of reliefs and incentives, as well as its simplicity. In this respect the UK still has one of the most competitive tax systems in the world.”
Meanwhile, the survey also found that confidence is rebounding quickly, with 40 per cent of UK chief executives being very confident their business’ revenue prospects would improve, in comparison to 2019, when this figure was 26 per cent.
“Furthermore, 89 per cent are confident their revenue prospects will improve to some extent over the next 12 months. Over a three-year horizon this confidence increases further,” PwC said.
