Some weeks back, I talked about the UK being the best place in the EU to set up business. My principal comparable was Denmark, because these two nations are the only EU members neither in, nor committed to joining, the Euro.
It seems the great and good agree. The World Economic Forum has recently published its Global Competitive Index for 2012-13, in which the UK was ranked 8th, with Denmark ranked 12th – a swing from last year where Denmark was 8th and the UK 12th.
Ranked above the UK are three non-EU states (Switzerland – 1st, Singapore – 2nd , USA -7th ), and four EU member states, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands and Germany. With the exception of Sweden, yet to join but committed to do so, all members of the Eurozone.
Given significant concerns about the viability of the Euro, and the inevitable but unmeasurable fall-out on continuing EZ member countries should any Eurozone country leave, that effectively places the UK as the best place to establish if one wants to tap into the EU market.
The UK scored particularly strongly on labour market efficiency, business sophistication and business innovation. It also ranked first for legal rights. It’s no surprise the UK’s principal weaknesses relate to the size of government debt and budget deficit, and the sheer scale of imports.
One statistic did surprise me – according to the report it takes 13 days to set up in business here. Nothing like that long if you do it through us!
The information in this article was correct at the date it was first published.
However it is of a generic nature and cannot constitute advice. Specific advice should be sought before any action taken.
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