World Economic Forum: UK bosses confidence not dented by Brexit finds PwC survey

Eighty-nine per cent of British bosses were bullish about their own company’s growth prospects in 2017, up from 85 per cent this time last year

UK CEOs are more bullish about 2017 than their counterparts in the rest of the world (Getty/iStockphoto)

The uncertainty created by Brexit has not, so far, dented the confidence of UK company chief executives, according to an annual survey by the professional services group PwC.

The PwC survey, published on Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, found that 89 per cent of British bosses were bullish about their own company’s growth prospects in 2017.

This was up from 85 per cent this time last year, before the shock Brexit vote, that many chief executives warned would harm business prospects.

The global confidence figure among CEOs is 85 per cent.

And the survey suggests that UK bosses are more confident than their German counterparts, where the confidence figure is 77 per cent.

The survey also shows that 63 per cent of UK bosses expect to grow their workforces over the coming year, relative to 52 per cent of all CEOs around the world.

Despite the relative bullishness of UK executives, most economic forecasts by analysts are for the domestic economy to slow down this year, in part due to a cut in business investment by firms.

And there are tentative signs of that already.

Despite the strong overall GDP growth of 0.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, business investment fell by 2.2 per cent on the same month a year earlier, the third consecutive annual decline.

The most recent report from the Bank of England’s regional agents pointed to “only small increases in spending over the coming year” with many firms intending to hold more cash due to high uncertainty related to the Brexit process.

Prime Minister Theresa May intends to trigger the two-year Article 50 divorce process from the European Union in March.

“UK CEOs are resilient and realistic about the challenges ahead," said Kevin Ellis, the chair and senior partner of PwC. He added, however, that "maintaining a positive mindset and staying focused on what they can control is vital.”