UK telecoms sector predicts foreign investment to drive growth to 2021

The British telecoms industry sees the next ten years as a period of solid growth for the UK, sustained by foreign investment into the country. This is according to the ‘Business in 2021’ research announced today by Barclays Corporate. Telecoms companies are not planning to exit the country either, with the majority seeing the UK as competitive market in which to operate in 2021.

The research, in which 660 UK business leaders were surveyed on the conditions they expect their firms to face in a decade, found that 56 per cent of telecoms companies envisage steady and sustained growth over the coming ten years. However, they expect this growth will originate from foreign investment into the UK, with 76 per cent of respondents expecting more foreign ownership of British businesses and assets by 2021.

This expected growth means that UK telecoms companies are backing the country as a better place to conduct business in 2021, with 62 per cent of respondents seeing the UK as a place to continue to work.

Growth will also be supported by export sales to the USA and Canada; with 65 per cent of respondents stating that the region will provide the most fertile ground for UK exports.

Lorraine Ruckstuhl, Corporate Director, TMT, Barclays Corporate, commented: “UK telecoms companies see a future in the country, and the results or our survey underline that. Moreover, these companies perceive the UK as having a strong standing in the global economy. Great Britain has been an investable country for some time; and telecoms companies see greater overseas investment as a real boost to our economy. A leaner and more competitive UK is going to appear in the global market, staking its claim as a country to do business in for some time to come.”

Ends

For more information please contact:

Matt Humphries Babel PR for Barclays Corporate

(T) 020 7434 5550

(E) barclayscorporate@babelpr.com

(W) www.babelpr.com

About Barclays Corporate

With a clear focus on quality relationships, Barclays Corporate provides integrated banking solutions to businesses with an annual turnover of more than £5 million in the UK and large local companies, financial institutions and multinationals in non-UK markets. We facilitate the success and growth of our clients by providing lending, risk management, cash and liquidity management, trade finance and asset and sales financing. Additionally, our clients benefit from the breadth of the Barclays Group, through access to the investment banking services of Barclays Capital including debt and equity capital markets, the private wealth management expertise of Barclays Wealth, and the card and payment services of Barclaycard. Barclays Corporate employs 11,900 people globally. For more information please visit www.barclayscorporate.com.

About Barclays

Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth management with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs 147,500 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com.