UK media sector predicts foreign investment to drive growth to 2021

Business leaders in the media sector are upbeat about the future of business in the UK, predicting solid growth through the next ten years; driven by foreign investment into the country, according to the ‘Business in 2021’ research announced today by Barclays Corporate. UK media companies also see the UK as a continued base of operation, with almost half of those surveyed seeing the country as a competitive place in which to do business 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 58 per cent of media respondents think the UK will experience steady and sustained growth over that time. However, media leaders predict this growth will be based on an injection of foreign investment into the UK, with 77 per cent of respondents agreeing overseas investment in the country will increase.

This predicted foreign investment into the UK has also resulted in media companies backing the UK as a better place to conduct business in 2021, with 60 per cent seeing the UK as a place to continue to work.

They also expect that outside investment into UK businesses will make the country much more competitive on a global scale, with almost half of the media respondents saying the UK would have a stronger platform to compete.

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

Lorraine Ruckstuhl, Corporate Director, TMT, Barclays Corporate, commented: “The UK media industry is enthusiastic about the country’s future performance. The UK has been a magnet for foreign investment for more than twenty years now. The media don’t view this as a negative development, but see this overseas investment as beneficial and a stabilising factor. It’s obvious that this industry sees the UK as a place they will be doing business for some time to come.”

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For more information please contact:

Katharine Simon

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.