Britain and America
A thousand naked cyclists peddled past the Trump building in Chicago in 2018; they were clearly making a statement. My pictures are too grainy for publication but it appears they had a point and it is with a sense of relief that America is now in the hands of Joe Biden. In business, American companies always had supreme confidence (that’s not to say they were always right). We look forward to a return of the American ‘can-do’ attitude in 2021. At SBM we have been building our connections through America since 2012 and perhaps with the stronger Pound we can look forward to more outward investment from our clients.
Britain and the EU
Another country regaining its confidence is the UK and for all of us in business who recognise that creativity, resourcefulness, integrity and courage are the foundations for sustainable profit, this a positive development.
At SBM we often witness a time lag between what our CEO and CFO clients tell us is happening on the ground and what is reported in the press that leaves the UK media trailing. It is significant for Nissan UK’s COO, Ashwani Gupta, to expound ‘Brexit for Nissan is a positive’ and for this to be widely reported. Non-action is harder to criticise than action. Action in whatever form is easy to criticise and criticism is even easier to publicise. Covid has made us even more risk averse but risk aversion is potentially pauperising.
That’s why at SBM we believe 2021 is all about ‘getting things done’.
Stephen Bleakley
Managing Director
