Directorbank

The latest UK Powerhouse report from Cebr and Irwin Mitchell comes at a time of significant economic and political uncertainty.

The previous report in the series analysed city economic growth in the third quarter of 2015 and provided a forecast for what is likely to happen in 2016.

At the time, the economy was performing reasonably strongly and although some of our largest cities revealed healthy growth and job creation, there were signs that the headwinds were getting stronger for the 12 months ahead.

The message from this latest study is that economic growth has slowed again with business confidence and investment levels falling. When the influence and uncertainty caused by the EU referendum next month is added into the equation, it’s clear that the commercial environment has become even more challenging.

One of the key aims of Cebr/Irwin Mitchell’s UK Powerhouse reports is to provide a timely look at how city economies are doing whilst also assessing the effectiveness of the Government’s wealth spreading agenda.

So far, it appears that very little headway is being made. Many of the slowest growing places are located in the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and indeed the forecasts point to the gap between the North and the South East getting even wider.

Although much is made of closing the North/South gap, it is important to remember that a strong London economy is vital to the UK economy as a whole. No one can argue against the importance of ensuring wealth is spread widely, but it’s important to remember that our ‘global powerhouse’ in London is vital.

To read more click here, Irwin Mitchell-UK Powerhouse Mini Report April

On 18th May, Directorbank is partnering with Real Business – the most-read SME website dedicated to high growth businesses and entrepreneurs – for the FD Surgery event at the Royal College of Surgeons, London.

The event brings together more than 200 high calibre FDs for a rewarding day of education, peer-level advice and networking. Guests will hear from colourful, high profile FDs who have tackled formidable business disorders and join industry consultants who’ll be on hand to diagnose symptoms and prescribe confidential advice.

Directorbank’s Simon Thomas will be speaking on the ‘Where next? Planning your career development’ panel, and both Simon and George Heppenstall (our Head of CFO Practice) will be holding 1-to-1 discussions on career development during the break-out sessions.

If you are an FD of a business turning over between £10m and £100m, and would like to attend this event, we have a number of complimentary tickets (usually £595) to give away on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to apply.

For more information on Directorbank’s CFO Practice including a track record click here, or contact George Heppenstall on 020 7255 7940 or at g.heppenstall@directorbank.com

People risks in M&A transactions: According to a interesting report by Mercer:

“Nearly 89% of the companies surveyed included talent issues among their top three integration challenges overall. Ensuring a good cultural and organisational fit, retaining key talent, and making sure the best leadership team is in place are the top people issues cited by those surveyed.

Based on the results of Mercer’s interview findings, most corporates (64%) focus on senior talent acquisition and retention. This focus includes retaining essential talent, upgrading skills, and scaling for growth. For 57% of private equity businesses, leadership team effectiveness is the top HR issue in transactions.”

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About Directorbank:

For 18 years, Directorbank has been working with SMEs and private equity backed businesses, helping them to achieve growth and change through high impact Board-level recruitment solutions. Our PE understanding, sector knowledge and search experience enables us to firmly grasp what it takes to be a successful director of an entrepreneurial high growth business, and our track record to support this is extensive.

For more information on our services, call George Heppenstall, Director, on 020 7255 7940 or email g.heppenstall@directorbank.com

Northern Powerhouse update:
As part of an annual series, the latest ‘City Growth Tracker’ report is now available and provides an outlook for the UK’s economy across 2016. To view click here: UK Powerhouse A5 Mini Report.

This follows on from a detailed study – posted last December – which analysed the government’s wealth spreading agenda, and in particular its ‘Northern Powerhouse’ initiative.

Compiled by leading economic think-tank Cebr and top-20 law firm Irwin Mitchell, the study predicted that the gap between London and other regions of the UK was in fact set to widen over the next 10 years. Indeed by 2025, the report concluded that the Capital’s economy will have grown by 27% whilst the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ was set to grow by just 14%.

In the last few months there have been numerous policy announcements in relation to driving growth outside the South East, and some of the recommendations made in the above report are already being introduced. Much more however needs to be done to drive substantial growth across the UK whilst making sure London remains as a global powerhouse.

As official economic data sources can often be dated, Cebr devised a unique Powerhouse Tracker for the purpose of this initiative – a range of more timely indicators to create a ‘nowcast’ of GVA and employment for key cities across the UK. These indicators, used together, forms a comprehensive picture of how the regional economies of the UK are performing and whether or not ‘powerhouses’ are indeed developing.

To view the results of the latest interactive Powerhouse Tracker, visit www.irwinmitchell.com/ukpowerhouse