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STILL GOT IT: BOSSES WARM TO UK APPEAL
SURVEY OF GLOBAL CEOS: UK IS THIRD-BEST DESTINATION JACK BARNETT THE WORLD’s business elite are set to pump billions of pounds into the UK, defying experts forecasting the country is on course for its toughest recession in a century, a new report out yesterday revealed. The proportion of more than 4,400 global chief executives in 105 countries surveyed by consultancy PwC identifying the UK as one of their top investment locations has doubled over the last three years. Now, nearly one in four business leaders want to grow in Britain more than anywhere else, up from nine per cent in 2020. Just China and the US beat the UK in the global growth priority table. Germany is level with the UK. The research underscores
that the UK remains an attractive place to do business despite experts warning it is headed for the deepest recession among rich nations. An investment boom would go a long way to boosting the UK’s economic growth at a time when the government is under pressure for a lack of forward-looking economic policy. “CEOs don’t expand and invest on a whim – they’re choosing the UK as that’s where they expect to see returns,” Kevin Ellis, chairman and senior partner at PwC UK, said. Others pointed out the survey shows the UK is beating away headwinds caused by the pandemic and ongoing Brexit trade disruption, with London leading the charge. “Despite the huge c h a l lenges of
Brexit and the pandemic, it’s great to see that the UK is succeeding and London is retaining its status as a global city,” Claire Harding, research director at the Centre for London, told City A.M. “UK business leaders’ investment plans were stronger in December than they have been at any time in the last six months, and it is good to see that this is reinforced by growing confidence in the UK at a global level,” Kitty Ussher, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, told City A.M. Recent data has indicated the underlying strength of the economy may be better than feared, strengthening the UK’s investment case. A weak pound has also made injecting money in the country cheaper. Figures out last week revealed output shockingly grew 0.1 per cent in November, beating a consensus forecast of a 0.2 per cent contraction. Many of the world’s bosses are currently at Davos, the World Economic Forum’s annual summit. Rishi Sunak is not attending.
EXPRESS PROGRESS Stansted enjoys a bumper 2022 rebound ILARIA GRASSO MACOLA STANSTED Airport is almost back at post-pandemic passenger levels, it said yesterday, after a bumper Christmas period. Essex’s favourite low-cost hub saw 1.8m people pass through its e-gates in December 2022, just slightly lower than 2019 numbers. That took the airport to 23.3m passengers across the year. “To round the year off with another strong passenger performance in December is a great achievement, and
testament to the strength of Stansted’s route network,” Gareth Powell, the airport’s managing director, said. Powell added that he expected the next 12 months to be “even busier”. Heathrow welcomed 61.6m visitors in 2022, with Gatwick behind at 32.8m visitors. Aviation analyst Sally Gethin said Stansted’s numbers demonstrated potential for growth in the industry across the entire south east. £ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
London’s flagship FTSE 100 index heads to new high on China reopening JACK BARNETT LONDON’s FTSE 100 made more tracks toward its record high yesterday, extending a bullish start to 2023. The capital’s premier index jumped 0.2 per cent to 7,860.08 points, while the domestically-
focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 0.65 per cent to close above the 20,000 point mark. The FTSE 100 kicked off another week in good style yesterday, taking its 2023 earnings so far to more than four per cent.
That new year surge has led it to near its highest level ever of just over 7,900 points, hit in May 2018. Easing fears over the severity of a much-reported UK recession has lifted sentiment toward London-listed stocks. The prospect of global energy
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and commodity prices being boosted by China, the world’s second largest economy, reopening its economy by dismantling its zeroCovid policy has also prompted traders to
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flow into the FTSE 100. A large chunk of the index is made up of industrial firms, such as BP, Shell and Glencore. Markets also think central bankers could hint at a slowdown in rate hikes this year at the World Economic Forum’s annual jamboree in Davos this week.
INSIDE M&S’S HALF A BILLION POUND EXPANSION P3 ASHMORE: APPETITE FOR RISK WILL RETURN P5 POWERING THE UK’S GREEN TRANSITION P12 MARKETS P14 OPINION P16