Europeans back Britain in poll
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.EUROPEAN business leaders yesterday delivered a strong vote of confidence in the UK's prospects, ranking it the most attractive European location for manufacturing investment, writes Gail Counsell.
Around 18 per cent favoured the UK, compared with 17 per cent preferring Germany, according to the UPS Europe Business Monitor, which questioned 1,490 directors in seven European countries.
The vote is a striking reversal of last year, when Britain was voted the least attractive location. Moreover, opinions on Germany were split, with 19 per cent ranking it the worst location.
The survey also showed a surge in confidence in the UK economy, with 43 per cent expecting the UK to have the strongest growth over the next three years, second only to Germany. This fitted in with the views of British companies, which were the most optimistic.
More than three-quarters of British business leaders said they thought their company would be in a better position in 12 months, a rise of 17 percentage points on last year. The tone across Europe as a whole was also more positive, with 56 per cent of those surveyed saying things would improve for their group. However, the groups involved, selected from Europe's top 15,000 companies by revenue with an average turnover of dollars 1.7bn, remained gloomy about unemployment.
(Table omitted)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments