Britain is back. Great. But where to next?
The clash of ideologies personified by US President Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg dominated Davos and the coverage of this year’s World Economic Forum.
Climate change was the main theme of the gathering and almost all of the public-facing events and speeches were dedicated to the cause.
But alongside the forum’s preference for addressing these big-picture issues, the global elite still found time to talk business. An illuminating report in the Times pieced together reaction to chancellor Sajid Javid’s private pitch to business leaders — hosted by Blackrock — in which he declared “Britain is back.”
There was some grumbling that Boris Johnson didn’t attend, which is understandable given that his advisers briefed the media that the government had no interest in “hanging out with billionaires” — but billionaires have a thick skin and it was Johnson’s missed opportunity to sell Britain that raised the eyebrows, rather than his advisers’ angry barbs.
So the role of salesman fell to Javid, and according to the Times he did a pretty good job. Deutsche Bank’s Christian Sewing welcomed the “clarity and certainty” provided by the Tory majority while Standard Chartered’s chairman, Jose Vinals, said “for global leaders, the view of the UK has improved considerably over the past couple of months.”
Axel Weber, chairman of UBS, suggested that investment was returning to the UK, “people are coming off the sidelines,” he said, while even the Grand High Remainer Peter Mandelson conceded that people were talking about how well Javid’s message had gone down.
This is all very encouraging but with the global economy — and financial services — undergoing rapid transformation, the government’s task is not just to regain lost ground but to shape the City for the future.
A report out today by Duff and Phelps highlights the scale of change facing not just the City, but global finance.
A group of 240 senior leaders in financial services were asked which city they consider to be the world’s preeminent financial centre today.
New York and London have clear leads with no Asian city pulling beyond Singapore’s 2.4 per cent. When asked which city will lead in five years, Shanghai breaks into the list with just under ten per cent of the vote.
Singapore also gains ground, as does Hong Kong. “Britain is back” sounds good for now but “Britain is the future” should be the theme of Javid’s next speech.
Delivering on that pledge won’t be easy but now is the time to commit energy and resources to realising just such an ambition.
Main image: Getty