Let’s get back to what we’re good at, urges Deloitte chief
THE importance of ‘Brand Britain’ and its strengths need to be emphasised to accelerate economic recovery, Deloitte’s chief executive has said.
Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, David Sproul said the UK needs to “get back to what we’re good at”.
Mr Sproul said: “It’s a bit too simplistic to say like the Government is that we need to scale back financial services and increase manufacturing. We’ve got to get back to what we’re good at. We’re really good at ‘Brand Britain’.”
He said more focus needed to be placed on creating an environment that would promote growth and not lead to more regulation.
Mr Sproul also said emphasis should be put on backing niche businesses such as specialist manufacturers and digital technology entrepreneurs.
“I think we’ve also got to be very confident about foreign companies starting to invest here.”
And he believes the strength of the UK’s business services sector could be made more of as a catalyst for growth.
The chief executive and senior partner of Deloitte’s UK operations, who was speaking before an event hosted by Deloitte to celebrate the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games, said the UK was likely to experience ten years of uncertainty.
There should be an upturn in confidence from the Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee but realistic economic growth is not expected until at least 2013, Mr Sproul suggested.
He added that as a key official supporter of the Games, Deloitte had an integral part to play in the success of the event and that he is proud of the ‘Big Four’ firm’s involvement.
Speaking about Deloitte’s future plans, Mr Sproul said the firm is looking to establish ‘centres of excellence’ in some of the UK regions it operates in but that a firm decision on those locations was at least 12 months away. The bases would see specialist staff headquartered outside London.
