Act now: From recovery to growth

As economies open up and move past the sudden shocks of the past year, UK businesses are shifting their focus from ‘survive and stabilise’ to recovery and growth. To find out the current state of the market, we surveyed 400 UK business leaders who had their business and markets affected by the pandemic.

Key survey findings:

1. Environmental, Societal and Governance (ESG) and Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) have continued to rise up the agenda of boardroom conversations. ESG and D&I have evolved from tick box exercises to a core part of how UK businesses are expected to operate. It is now an issue that businesses can no longer afford to ignore.
2. Our research shows that UK businesses are clear on the benefits of incorporating ESG and D&I into change management and restructuring programmes. Yet accurately monitoring change within the organisation remains a major barrier to progress.
3. Consumer and stakeholder expectations drive the need to change. And competition is fierce. If companies fail to focus on this when competitors do, they put themselves at risk of falling behind, making them less attractive to investors and funders.