Professional and business services

Unsung heroes

The British economy’s best-kept secret

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Readers' comments



This is a another niche economy that is not going to lead to widespread prosperity or do a damn think for anyone not living in SE England. As far as your unsung heroes go, keep looking.

Maltese Falcon

Which makes the all out assault on the British private training industry by the UK Border Agency even more counter-productive.

Quality assurance is essential but the UKBA's wanton vandalism of shutting providers on the flimsiest of non-contexts is suicide by UK plc.

johnb78 in reply to Maltese Falcon

Same for knowledge businesses: capping foreign knowledge workers is absolutely insane. Don't blame the UKBA, though - they're following the government's instructions, which in turn are designed to appeal to ignorant, bitter members of the public.

Maltese Falcon in reply to johnb78

Agreed this is the product of a political dictat which judging by the Tories currently repelling the UKBA and UKIP in domestic elections is delivering the "ignorant, bitter members of the public" votes.
However, the UKBA is systematically trampling beyond its legal powers to deliver its politically-driven targets and no doubt we will be treated to another Theresa May hand-wringing political hand bagging of civil servants when it all blows up in the Courts.
Dominic Green has delivered another "we only want the brightest immigrants" speech today when his policies and practices actually drive anyone with a brain away from the UK in despair.


Don't worry, as soon as the public have finished banker-bashing, they will start with 'dodgy' auditors, 'ambulance-chasing' lawyers, and 'evil' tax advisers. The semi-literate masses of England do not like success in others, particularly if this came via education.

Michael Osborne

Britain seems good at capitalising on its essential nature to export services. For example, Scandinavian multinational said to a friend in the PR industry that the group often comes to the UK to figure out its media strategy because the press here is so brutal that if it can pass muster here it will work anywhere. Cue multi-national contract for London PR office...


Public-private partnerships do have its place in any economy but some of those potential partnerships should be very carefully examined before go-ahead is given. Certain absolutely critical things, such as water supply for example, should stay in public hands no matter how badly budget is strained.

johnb78 in reply to Grettir

The example of water isn't a good one. Privatised water in England has worked very well, with lower price rises and greater quality improvements than the public-sector organisations that were retained in Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is because the English water privatisation model incorporates a powerful regulator with the ability to demand capital spending and control price rises.

In some developing countries, water privatisation has been a disaster, because corrupt or incompetent officials have allowed water to be sold without price controls to companies that jack up prices by over 100% a year. This reflects the fact that incompetent governments make bad decisions, not that water privatisation is inherently a bad thing.



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