2016 Worldwide Conference attracts record turnout to London

Attendees were able to meet and exchange views with leading economists and international business advisers from the Bank of England, the Confederation of British Industry and the Department for International Trade.

Held this year at the Royal Horseguards hotel in London, Alliott Group’s Worldwide Conference is the international association’s flagship event in the calendar year. In addition to acquiring new knowledge about the opportunities and challenges presented by the UK and global business environment, members were able to develop relationships with their professional counterparts around the world who provide solutions to their clients as and when their business requires professional support in different markets.

The UK's future role in the global economy following Brexit

During the four day conference, authoritative speakers from the Bank of England and the Confederation of British Industry presented the latest data on the UK economy and predictions for the future, particularly in the context of the country’s decision to leave the European Union (‘Brexit’) and the resulting uncertainty.

Lai Wah Co of the Bank of England outlined the Bank’s recent monetary policy actions including reduction of the bank’s interest rate from 0.5% to 0.25% and £70 billion worth of quantitative easing through government and corporate bond purchases. Attendees learned that:

• The UK faces a period of economic uncertainty following Brexit
• UK investor and consumer confidence has dipped in the run up to and following the Brexit vote
• UK inflation is set to rise * The Pound has plunged against the US Dollar and the Euro
• UK GDP growth will slow, but then should start to pick up.

However, Amar Mistry of the Department for International Trade emphasised that despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit, the UK will continue to be a good place to do business. Mistry provided a number of reasons why the UK is the number one location in Europe for attracting Foreign Direct Investment:

• Plans to make the UK the G20’s most attractive tax regime, including the reduction of corporation tax to 17% by 2020
• A vast market that is the world’s 6th largest economy with easy access to a talented workforce
• A favourable business environment that enables ease of set-up and operation.

The importance of cultural fluency and 'Global English'

Attendees were also provided with cultural awareness training from Farnham Castle Intercultural Training designed to help them to develop a ‘global mindset’ and to become local experts in advising clients on how to be more successful when extending internationally. Susanna Lyddon compared culture to an iceberg, explaining that 90% of culture is ‘below the water’ and outlining the richer cultural intricacies such as learning styles, the importance of time, relationships and language, and approaches to problem solving.

Strategic marketing session provides advice for smaller firms competing in same markets as big firms

Ben Kent of Meridian West shared comprehensive research on what clients want from their professional advisers. The level of service provided to clients by the world’s six largest accounting firms was shown to be ‘patchy’ and Kent also highlighted the big firms’ perceived weaknesses in terms of delivering commercial advice and providing service consistency worldwide.

According to Kent, the best opportunities for smaller firms lie in providing specialist advisory services related to tax (e.g. transfer pricing), regulation and technology which are all high demand areas. Although it was emphasised that we are entering the age of the ‘technology supported professional’, attendees were also advised by Kent not to lose sight of the huge value still placed on human interaction and judgment by clients.

Special interest groups continue momentum

During the conference, representatives from the alliance’s international tax and global mobility special interest groups held roundtable discussions on the impact of recent international tax developments on internationally focused SMEs, particularly national implementations of proposals in the OECD/G20 Base Erosion & Profit Shifting (BEPS) project that is surrounded by mystique and is targeting tax avoidance. Members of the Corporate Finance/M&A Group also held a meeting to review recent marketing progress and to explore how the group can take advantage of specialist advisory and transactional expertise within the alliance to better serve existing clients and win new clients.

A multidisciplinary roundtable during the inaugural Global Business Conference also afforded an opportunity for expert members of the SIGs to form a cross disciplinary panel to demonstrate their ability to blend sophisticated advice for SMEs on issues related to successful entry into a foreign market.

Download presentations from the conference

To access the presentations from the conference, click here to view the conference page. You will need to be a member to access these resources