Business conditions worsening, says CBI

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 25 Nov 2002 9:38

The CBI kicked off its annual conference in Manchester yesterday with a stark warning that an increasingly hard-pressed UK government is losing its grip on the business community.

The conference provided the CBI with the opportunity for some pre-budget lobbying by publishing the results of a MORI survey of company leaders, the first in-depth CBI assessment of business attitudes to the UK as an investment location.

The good news is that twice as many executives said they still see the UK as an attractive place to invest as see it as unattractive (54 per cent versus 24 per cent). But two thirds (66 per cent) said conditions are worse than five years ago and more than half (58 per cent) expect the situation to deteriorate further.

Worryingly for ministers, an increasing number of company leaders believe the government is becoming less business friendly.

Sixty six per cent said the government is less business friendly than five years ago and 60 per cent expect this to get worse. Respondents emphasised that the government does not understand how business works, with 70 per cent saying it understands only poorly or partially.

Digby Jones, CBI Director-General, said: "This is a disturbing vision of the future. When it comes to competitiveness, the UK is driving in the wrong direction. If we carry on driving down the wrong road, firms will get out and walk the other way. Reversing the decline must be one of the government's biggest priorities.

"I say well done to the government for delivering a stable economic climate that is clearly weathering a stormy global environment. But if the government wants to get more out of business and use business as a big contributor to socially-inclusive wealth creation, it must make the UK the best place in the world to do business."

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