Defying Gravity - How ambitious businesses can achieve growth in the age of uncertainty

Part 2: expanding international horizons

The Defying Gravity report of Mills and Reeve series will help to explain how medium sized businesses (MSBs) can achieve high performance in complex and uncertain times. Research is based on interviews conducted in 2017 with 500 leaders of UK MSBs across a representative range of industry sectors.

A “medium sized business” is defined as having a turnover of between £10 million and £300 million while a high growth or high performance business is defined as having achieved turnover growth above 20% last year. Participants were CEOs, CFOs or Board Directors. You can find out more at: www.wearedefyinggravity.co.uk.

Leveraging international opportunities

• Focus on France

France has always been prized for its excellent road, rail and air infrastructure. This, combined with its strategic geographical location for trading between northern and southern Europe, as well as with Africa and the Middle East, makes it an excellent choice for consumer goods businesses wishing to keep a foothold in the EU post Brexit. Not to mention its proximity with the UK via Eurostar.

Meanwhile the choice of Paris as the new home of the European Banking Authority following Britain’s withdrawal from the EU in March 2019 demonstrates that France is now perceived favourably within the business community.

Anne Frechette-Kerbrat, co-head of the UK desk at FIDAL, said: “Over recent years France’s attractiveness to foreign businesses was severely hindered due to our employment laws and the associated costs. Put simply we were not seen as business friendly. “However, the election of Emmanuel Macron has dramatically changed this perception as a number of laws have been passed to make life easier for businesses. The ‘Macron Laws’ were introduced to simplify the French Labour Code in September 2017 and built on the labour law reforms that have been undertaken in recent years aimed at simplifying the labour code and introducing far greater flexibility for businesses.”o.uk