survey of britain's captains of industry 2013

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Version 1 | Internal Use Only Survey of Britain’s

Captains of Industry 2013

December 2013

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Economy and Politics

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93%

7%

Improve Stay the same Get worse

C1. Do you think that the general economic condition of the country will improve, stay the

same or get worse over the next 12 months?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Year

Improve 93%

Get worse

0%

General election

General election

General election

A majority of Captains (93%) think the economic condition will

improve over the next 12 months

General election

Base: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sept-Dec 2013

4



C1. Do you think that the general economic condition of the country will improve, stay the

same or get worse over the next 12 months?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Year

Improve 93%

Get worse

0%

General election

General election

General election

Economic optimism since 1987

General election

Base: British Captains of Industry

General election

General election

5



C4. What do you see as the most important issues facing Britain today?

Just over a quarter of Captains see restoring growth in the

economy as the most important issue facing Britain

10%

10%

11%

16%

20%

23%

27%

International competitivness

The Eurozone

Inadequate education system/more investment ineducation

Unemployment

Investment in infrastructure

Government/deficit/debt

Rebalancing/ stimulating / restoring growth in the economy

Top mentions


6



84%

14% 2%

Improve Stay the same Get worse

C2. Do you think that business for your own company will improve, stay the same or get

worse over the next 12 months?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Year

Improve 84%

Get worse

2%

General election

General election

General election

Only 2% of Captains think that business for their own company

will get worse; the majority (84%) expect improvement

General election


7



C2. Do you think that business for your own company will improve, stay the same or get

worse over the next 12 months?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Year

Improve 84%

Get worse

2%

General election

General election

General election

Company optimism since 1987

General election

Base: British Captains of Industry

General election

General election

8



C5. And, what are the most important problems facing your company today?

The most important problems that Captains face are difficulty

meeting labour demands and government legislation/regulation

12%

13%

17%

18%

Internatinal competition/new competitors/ maintainingcompetitive position

General economic climate

Government legislation/ regulation

Difficulty meeting labour demands/ recruitment needs/attracting and keeping staff

Top mentions


9



C3. To what extent do you agree with the following statement? In the long term, this government's

policies will improve the state of the British economy

Captains continue to agree that in the long term the government’s

policies will improve the state of the British economy


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Agree 83%

Disagree 9%

General election

General election

Year

General election

General election

21%

62%

9%

8% 1%

Strongly agree Tend to agree

Neither agree nor disagree Tend to disagree

Strongly disagree

10



C104. What steps, if any, would you like to see the Government taking to help restore

growth in the UK economy?

Captains would like the government to invest in the

infrastructure and reduce taxation

7%

8%

9%

10%

14%

18%

23%

Coherent/consistent energy policy/deal with energy issues

Encourage longer term planning/strategy/stability/consistency

Reduce public services spending/debt

Investment in education/skills/ training

Reduce / simplify regulation/bureaucracy

Reduce taxation

Investment in infrastructure

Top mentions


11



C3. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

Most Captains (82%) believe the UK is currently an attractive place

to invest

19% 63% 12% 5% 1% The UK is currently an attractive place to

invest

Strongly agree Tend to agree Neither agree nor disagree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree

Base: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sep-Dec 2013

12



C42. In the current climate, which of the following countries do you believe offers the best environment

for business?

C43. Which of the following countries do you believe are the most attractive for investment?

The USA remains the best environment for business with China

perceived as the most attractive for investment

52%

25%

1%

3%

4%

1%

1%

0%

7%

4%

1%

34%

9%

7%

4%

1%

6%

1%

4%

4%

23%

5%

USA

UK

Brazil

Australia

Canada

India

Middle East

Mexico

Germany

China

Africa

Best environment

Most attractive


Top mentions 2013

45%

14%

7%

6%

4%

4%

3%

2%

2%

2%

1%

17%

8%

17%

2%

2%

10%

2%

3%

3%

23%

3%

USA

UK

Brazil

Australia

Canada

India

Middle East (net)

Mexico

Germany

China

Africa (net)

Best environment

Most attractive

2012

Base: British Captains of Industry (103) interviewed Sep-Dec 2012

13



C44a In which one or two of the following sectors do you see the greatest potential for growth in the

UK over the next 12 months?

C44b In which one or two of the following sectors do you see the least potential for growth in the UK

over the next 12 months?

The construction sector is seen as having the greatest potential for

growth with the mining/minerals and natural resources sector having the

least

57%

40%

37%

31%

16%

4%

3%

2%

2%

11%

19%

2%

21%

11%

61%

47%

Construction

Services/retailing

Financial/banking/insurance

Technology/media/telecoms

Manufacturing

Transport/distribution

Mining/minerals/naturalresources

Utilities

Greatest

Least

Base: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sept-Dec 2013 Base: British Captains of Industry (103) interviewed Sep-Dec 2012

2013

64%

36%

26%

19%

18%

9%

7%

6%

1%

1%

14%

32%

16%

41%

23%

28%

21%

1%

Technology/media/telecoms

Construction

Services/retailing

Manufacturing

Financial/banking/insurance

Utilities

Mining/minerals/naturalresources

Transport/distribution

Other

Greatest

Least

2012

14



C78. Using a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 means it is not at all important and 5 means it is

extremely important, please say how important each of the following factors are when

you judge a company or organisation?

90% say acting with honesty and integrity is extremely important

when judging a company or organisation

90%

54%

54%

45%

20%

18%

12%

8%

43%

38%

44%

43%

50%

38%

2%

2%

6%

10%

36%

28%

43%

3%

6%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

Acts with honesty and integrity

Quality of products or services

Quality of management

Quality of employees

Financial performance

Innovative and forward thinking

Communications with people like you

5 extremely important 4 3 2 1 not at all important No opinionBase: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sept-Dec 2013

1%

15



C8. What is your best estimate of when the UK economy will begin to grow in a significant

way again?

A quarter say the UK is currently growing but just over half estimate it

will be a year or more before the UK economy grows significantly

24%

1%

10%

30%

14%

9%

9%

4%

It's growing

Up to 6 months

7 months up to 12 months

More than 1 year up to 2 years

More than 2 years up to 4 years

More than 4 years

Not stated

Don’t know

Base: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sept-Dec 2013.

16


Captains and Regulation

17



C90. Do you feel that the level of regulation affecting business in the UK overall has been

increasing or decreasing over the last 12 months or has there been no change?

Almost two-thirds think that the level of regulation has been

increasing

64%

5%

31%

Increase Decrease No change

57% (2012)

4% (2012)

39% (2012)

Base: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sep-Dec 2013, (103) interviewed Sept-Dec 2012

18




A majority of Captains agree that the level of regulation on UK

business is harming the UK economy

35%

35%

48%

46%

7%

15%

10%

2%

1%

2%

1

2

Strongly agree Tend to agreeNeither agree nor disagree Tend to disagreeStrongly disagree

2013

2012

Base: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sep-Dec 2013, (103) interviewed Sept – Dec 2012

2013 +77pp

The level of

regulation on UK

businesses is

harming the UK

economy

2012 +72pp

Net percentage points (Net = % Agree - % Disagree):

19



C6A1. How, specifically, would you like to see the level of regulation on UK businesses

reduced in the UK?

Simplifying employment legislation is the most frequently mentioned

area where Captains would like to see a reduction in regulation

8%

8%

9%

9%

11%

13%

13%

22%

Stability/consistency in the regulatory environment

Reduce bureaurcracy/red tape

Simplify the planning process/ planning regulation

Less prescriptive approach to regulation/ moreprinciples based

Better/ less onerous corporate governanceregulation

Simplify/reduce financial sector regulation

Better implementation/ more coordinatedimplementation

Simplify/flexibility in employment legislation

Base: British Captains of Industry, interviewed Sep-Dec 2013, All who agreed that regulation on UK businesses is harming the economy (85)

Top Mentions

20


Captains and business

culture

21




Majority of Captains agree that politicians have a poor

understanding of business

44%

51%

21%

22%

48%

36%

49%

49%

3%

7%

10%

9%

3%

6%

16%

20%

2%

1%

3%

3%

2012

2013

2012

2013

Strongly agree Tend to agree Neither agree nor disagree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree No opinion

Base: British Captains of Industry (105) interviewed Sept-Dec 2013, (103) interviewed Sept – Dec 2012

Public culture in Britain is

biased against Britain

In general, politicians in this

country have a poor

understanding of business

22


Most impressive Business

Person

23



Sir Terry Leahy

C26. Who do you think is the most impressive business person in Britain at the moment?

Who else? (*asked as industrialist up to 1999, as business leader in 2000)

Justin King tops the list as the most impressive business person

for the first time

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

'81 '83 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 2000 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 10 11 12 13

Sir Richard

Branson

Base: British Captains of Industry, 1981-2013

Lord Weinstock

Sir John Harvey-Jones

Lord Weinstock

Lord Hanson

Lord Hanson

Sir David Simon

Richard Branson

Sir Colin Marshall

Sir Richard Sykes

Lord Browne

Lord Browne

Sir Terry Leahy

Sir John Rose

Justin King

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Methodology and Sample

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Methodology

• This report presents findings of the 2013 study of Captains of Industry, widely

acknowledged as the authoritative source of opinion on Britain's business elite

• Respondents are executive board-level directors and chairmen

• Companies are from:

• top 500 industrials by turnover; and

• top 100 financial companies by capital employed

• A total of 105 respondents took part, details of which are provided below

• Fieldwork: September – December 2013

• 102 interviews were conducted face-to-face and 3 by telephone

• Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to computer rounding,

multiple responses or the exclusion of don't know categories

26



Composition of the sample

Base: British Captains of Industry 2013 (105), interviewed Sep-Dec 2013

Industry Sector 2013

Services/ Retailing 23%

Financial/ Banking 24%

Technology/ Media/ Telecoms 15%

Manufacturing 11%

Transport/ Distribution 2%

Construction 10%

Utilities 7%

Mining/ Minerals/ Natural Resources 2%

Other 6%

Employees 2013

Below 500 12%

500-4,999 50%

5000-24,999 29%

25,000 + 9%

Job Title 2013

Chairman 32%

Chief Executive 35%

Finance Director/ CFO 17%

Managing Director 4%

Other 14%

FTSE Index 2013

FTSE 100 19%

FTSE 250 41%

Other listed and Private 40%

Head Office Location 2013

London 43%

Outside London 57%