ipsos mori captains of industry 2011

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Survey of Britain’s Captains of Industry 2011

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6th January 2012

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Methodology and sample

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Methodology

This report presents the findings of the 2011 study of Captains of Industry, widely acknowledged as the authoritative source of opinion on Britain's business elite

Respondents are executive board-level directors only.

Companies are from:– FTSE 350;

– top 500 industrials by turnover; and

– top 100 financial companies by capital employed

A total of 100 respondents took part

Fieldwork: 12 September – 21 December 2011– 94 interviews were conducted face-to-face and 6 by telephone

Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of don't know categories

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Composition of the sample

Figures shown are actual valuesBase: British Captains of Industry 2011 (100), interviewed Sep-Dec 2011Base: British Captains of Industry 2010 (102), interviewed Sep-Dec 2010

Industry Sector 2011 Change‘10 – ‘11

Financial/ Banking 17 -4Services/ retailing 23 +4

Technology/ media/ telecoms 12 -3Mining/ Minerals/ Natural

Resources 10 +2

Manufacturing 14 +1Utilities 5 -1

Construction 9 -2Transport/ distribution 3 +2Property/Real Estate 1 -2

Other 6

Employees 2011 Change‘10- ‘11

Below 500 40 +22

500-4,999 36 -14

5000-24,999 17 -8

25,000 + 6 -3

Job title 2011 Change‘10- ‘11

Chairman 34 0

Chief Executive 33 +3

Finance Director/ CFO 16 0

Managing Director 1 -4

Other 16 -1

Head office Location 2011 Change‘10- ‘11

London 52 +3

Outside London 48 -5

FTSE Index 2011 Change‘10-‘11

FTSE 100 19 -5

FTSE 250 36 +8

Other listed and Private 45 -5

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Background findings

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Economic optimism

Get worse

Improve

Stay the same

Year

Improve9%

Get worse56%

Do you think that the general economic condition of the country will improve, stay the same or get worse over the next 12 months?

General election

General election

General election

Base: British Captains of Industry (100), interviewed Sep-Dec 2011

General election

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Issues facing Britain

Top Mentions

What do you see as the most important issues facing Britain today?

The Eurozone

Government deficit/debt

Lack of economic growth

Consumer confidence/confidence

Unemployment

Youth unemployment

Societal dysfunction/social issues

Availability of finance/bank lending

Financial crisis/instability


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Potential for growthIn which of the 1 or 2 following sector do you see the greatest and least potential for growth in the UK over the next 12 months and which do you consider the UK to have a competitive advantage?


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The UK

To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?


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Net percentage points

The Euro

The Euro currency will survive the

current European Sovereign debt

crisis

+22pp

Net= % Agree-% Disagree



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The UK

The UK is currently an attractive place to

invest+19pp




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In the current climate, which of the following countries do you believe offers the best environment for business?


Best environment for business

%USA

ChinaUK

AustraliaBrazil

GermanyCanada

IndiaFrance

ItalyJapan

MexicoRussiaSpainOther

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Which of the following countries do you believe is the most attractive for investment?


Most attractive for investment

%BrazilChina

USAIndia

UKAustraliaGermany

RussiaCanadaFrance

ItalyJapan

MexicoSpainOther

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Company optimism

Get worse

Improve

Stay the same

Year

Improve56%

Get worse15%

Do you think that business for your own company will improve, stay the same or get worse over the next 12 months?

General election

General election

General election


General election

Don’t know

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What do you see as the most important issues facing your companytoday?


Issues facing companies

Top Mentions

Global economic uncertainty

Lack of (consumer) demand

Over-regulation/inefficient regulatory system/regulatory change

Availability of finance

Lack of confidence

Eurozone crisis

Lack of industrial/economic growth/investment

Recruitment needs/attracting and keeping staff

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Do you think the government has too little involvement in business and industry at the moment, too much involvement or about the right amount?

Government involvement

Too much About right Too little Don’t know

Regulation

Do you feel that the level of regulation affecting business in the UK overall has been increasing or decreasing over the last 12 months or has there been no change?


Decreasing

IncreasingNo change


Regulation

+85pp

To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statement...‘the level of regulation in the UK is harming the British economy?’

% Strongly disagree% Tend to disagree% Tend to agree% Strongly agree % Neither


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+82pp

Base: British Captains of Industry 2011 (100), interviewed Sep-Dec 2011Base: British Captains of Industry 2010 (102), interviewed Sep-Dec 2010

2011

2010


Immigration

+30pp


To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement... ‘restrictions on immigration will harm the competitiveness of the UK economy?’



2011

2010 +25pp


Public Sector Cuts

-47pp

Net = % Great deal/Fair amount -% Just a little/None at all

How much of an impact will public sector cuts have on your business over the next 12 months?

-47pp

2011

2010



-18pp

Net= % Agree-% DisagreeBase: British Captains of Industry 2011 (100), interviewed Sep-Dec 2011Base: British Captains of Industry 2010 (102), interviewed Sep-Dec 2010


2011

2010 -1pp

The recession and product/service offerings

To what extent do you agree or disagree … ‘the recession has forced us to change our products and/or service offering?’

No plans to change

New Product/new product development

Increased consumer focus

Expand into emerging markets

Improve existing products

Reduced price/lower cost alternatives

Increased consumer focus

Streamlined to decrease costs/more attention on cost

Focused on areas of potential

Diversifying products/services

Base: British Captains of Industry , Changed as a result of the recession (37), Will change over the next 12 months (100), interviewed Sep-Dec 2011

Change of product/service offering

How have you changed your product and/or service offering as a result of the recession? How, if at all, do you plan to change your product and/or service offering over the next 12 months?

Top Mentions Top Mentions

% Changed as a result of the recession % Will change over the next 12 months

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Most Impressive Business Person

Who do you think is the most impressive business person in Britain at the moment? Who else?

=3

Sir Richard Branson, Virgin

(12%)Sir Martin

Sorrell, WPP (10%)Charlie

Mayfield, John Lewis (9%)

5 6 7 8 =9 =9Bob Diamond (8%)

Sir James Dyson (7%)

Sir Terry Leahy (6%)

Sir John Parker (5%)

Lord Wolfson (4%)

Sir Philip Green (4%)

=3

Sir John Rose, Rolls Royce

(9%)

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Base: British Captains of Industry, 1981-2011

Who do you think is the most impressive business person in Britain at the moment? Who else? (*asked as industrialist up to 1999, as business leader in 2000)

Lord Weinstock

Sir John Harvey-Jones

Lord Weinstock

Lord Hanson

Lord Hanson

Sir David Simon

Richard Branson

Sir Colin Marshall

Sir Richard Sykes

Lord Browne

Sir Terry Leahy Lord

Browne Sir Terry Leahy

Sir John Rose

Most Impressive Business Person

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Appendices

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Statistical reliability

Only a sample of the ‘population’ has been interviewed so we cannot be certain that the figures obtained are exactly those we would have found, had everybody been interviewed (the ‘true’ values).

For any percentage given, however, we can estimate ‘confidence intervals’within which the true values are likely to fall. For example, if 19% of Captains say their business will improve in the next 12 months we can be 95% sure that the ‘true’ value for the population would be between 11 and 27, i.e. a margin of 8 percentage points on each side.

Similar margins for other percentages and sub-groups of the respondents are given in the following tables. It should be remembered that, in any case, the ‘true’ finding is much more likely to be towards the centre of the possible range of responses than towards the margins.

For similar reasons, apparent differences in results relating to sub groups may, if small, not necessarily reflect genuine attitudinal differences. We can be 95% sure that differences exceeding those in the second table are genuine, or ‘significant’ differences.

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Examples of statistical reliability

95% Confidence Interval

Sample size 10% or 90% 20% or 80% 30% or 70% 40% or 60% 50%

± ± ± ± ±

c.100 (all Captains) 6 8 9 10 10

c.80 (example subgroup) 7 9 10 11 11

c.50 (example subgroup) 8 11 13 14 14

Approximate percentage to which margin relates

Sample sizes being compared (sub-groups or trends) 10% or 90% 20% or 80% 30% or 70% 40% or 60% 50%

± ± ± ± ±

100 v 100 8 11 13 14 14

(e.g. all 2010 v all 2009)

50 v 50 12 16 18 19 20(example subgroups)

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CONTACTSStudy Director: Matthew ChattertonTelephone: 020 7347 3112, email: [email protected]

Study Manager: Kirk Darby Telephone: 020 7347 3064, email: [email protected]

ipsos mori captains of industry 2011

Business

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british captains

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