Top finance executives, including an insurance boss, have urged Prime Minister Theresa May to have the UK find its “swagger” and also look beyond the European Union to attain economic success after Brexit.
Investors and CEOs gathered on Wednesday at the Prosperity UK conference and called on the government to ensure the economy will continue to be an open and profitable place to do business.
“Sometimes if you build a really good store, with really good pricing, people will actually come and all you have to do is advertise it,” InterContinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“So I think the UK should have a little bit of swagger,” Sprecher told the conference, which had the slogan “coming together to make Brexit a success.”
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Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson also told the event that Brexit created an opportunity to bring London’s prosperity to other parts of the UK. According to a report by Sky News, Wilson said that cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Bristol had shown plenty of vision in making themselves attractive destinations for investors.
But at the same time, Brexit uncertainty will also encourage the industry to look for new business beyond Europe, Wilson said.
“The opportunities for us are just immense,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, Lloyd’s of London chairman John Nelson also said at the conference that a new European subsidiary in Brussels will enable the specialist insurance market to grow its continental business post-Brexit.
“In terms of the EU – partly for industry structural reasons, it has not been a hugely large market for Lloyd's – it may actually improve. We have put down facilities onshore,” Nelson was quoted as saying in the report.
“We think we will be able to operate pretty much seamlessly as far as our customers are concerned.”
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