UK is now a top investment destination, Deloitte survey reveals
Despite volatile markets and concern about the public finances, business directors have turned more bullish on the UK as a country to invest in and have a bigger appetite for risk, according to Deloitte's latest survey of chief financial officers.
The closely watched quarterly survey, which canvasses opinion from the finance chiefs of 61 of Britain's biggest companies, found that executives viewed the UK and India as the most attractive destination when it came to investment, with a net balance of 13 per cent of respondents describing Britain as very or somewhat attractive.
• Deloitte cuts back on bonuses, pay and promotions
Increasing fondness for the UK in the second quarter is a marked improvement from the end of last year, when finance bosses saw the United States, the Middle East, emerging Europe and Japan as better countries to invest in over Britain.
'These results reveal a shift in sentiment, with the UK now viewed as a leading global investment destination', Richard Houston, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte UK, said. 'This renewed confidence, coupled with a rise in risk appetite, is welcome and underscores the considerable investment potential the UK offers.'
A net balance of 17 per cent of finance chiefs said that now was a good time to take greater risk on to their balance sheets, compared with 12 per cent in the previous quarter, amid a 'slight tilt' away from 'defensive strategies' for the first time in a year as more companies looked at expanding via new markets and products.
Despite the uptick in optimism, the survey, which took place between June 16 and June 29, found that for an eighth consecutive quarter geopolitical fears remained the top risk to finance bosses.
However, the percentage of finance chiefs reporting that the level of external uncertainty facing their business was high or very high dipped to 44 per cent in the second quarter from 46 per cent in the previous quarter.
Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte UK, said the slight slip in levels of concern about geopolitical risk 'may reflect an easing of concerns around trade in light of the UK-US trade deal announced in early May.'
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