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Regulation a major concern for UK corporates

The cost of regulation and compliance is an even bigger concern for UK executives than tax, according to new research.

In a survey by RBS Corporate, 201 interviews were conducted with senior businesspeople in businesses with an annual turnover of more than £25million.

The results indicated that more than 50% of senior managers see red tape and legislation as the biggest barrier to growth, an increase of more than 10% on 2011 figures.

It appears that fears of tax have fallen, after moves were made to cut corporation tax, as less than a third of those questioned saw this as a major concern.

Regulation is believed to be the second-biggest growth barrier for mid-sized corporates. This indicates that the Governments recent decision to reduce the regulatory burden for small companies could also be necessary for mid and large sized businesses.

Peter Russell, head of manufacturing at RBS Corporate and Institutional Banking commented: “It is worrying that regulation is seen as one of the biggest barriers to growth for UK mid-size companies.

“While there have been positive strides made, corporate UK clearly feels onerous regulation is still hurting business.

“On the positive side, taxation is now seen as less of a burden by companies, which is important as the UK looks to meet the challenges of low tax jurisdictions.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .