United Kingdom
Kirk Murdoch
McGrigor Donald
Glasgow, Scotland
Introduction
In the last few years, the business climate and the economy in the United Kingdom have
attracted increasing numbers of overseas companies ready to exploit the investment
opportunities available. Statistics show that virtually all multinationals have subsidiaries
in the United Kingdom, while over one-third of United States direct investment in the
European Community is in the United Kingdom. It has been a long-standing policy of
successive United Kingdom Governments to welcome foreign investment and, as a
result, there are no special restrictions currently imposed on the foreign investor with
regard to the acquisition of business interests or property in the United Kingdom or the
transfer of funds into or out of the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom domestic market is relatively large--it has a population of almost
59 million. It is affluent with an average household weekly expenditure of £352 spent on
goods and services (Office of National Statistics 1999) and is a major market for both consumer
and industrial products. There is also a large public service market with the
Government, a market which is likely to increase substantially as a result of the public/
private partnerships introduced by the Government, which in turn build on the private
finance initiative (PFI) developed by the previous administration. This initiative seeks to
encourage private sector investment in, and on-going management and maintenance of,
building, infrastructure, health, education, and other projects that were formerly developed,
funded, and managed wholly by the public sector.
The United Kingdom has many advantages as a location for a distribution or manufacturing
business. It has a skilled and adaptable work force, and the organization of
vocational training has received considerable Government attention and public funding.
The last decade has seen significant growth in productivity coupled with a stable
industrial relations climate. Also, of major importance is the United Kingdom’s ability
to offer access to important world markets due to its long-established global trading
links and itsmembership of the European Community, its historical linkswith the countries
of the British Commonwealth, and a long-established trading relationship with the
United States.
On the financial side, the United Kingdom share of the international banking market currently
stands at around 20 per cent. London remains one of the principal international
financial centers, with the City still having the largest concentration of banks in the world.
Kirk Murdoch, McGrigor Donald, Glasgow, Scotland
