JOHN CAMPBELL SPEECH AT DOVER HOUSE
May 21, 2009
DOVER HOUSE RECEPTION, MAY 19, 2009
SPEECH BY JOHN CAMPBELL, CHAIRMAN OF SCOTTISH FINANCIAL ENTERPRISE
Thank you, Secretary of State, for your kind welcome, and for hosting us here this evening at Dover House, a most impressive building which has been Scotland's home in Whitehall for many years.
May I also thank you for all the time and support that you have given personally to our industry since your appointment as Secretary of State for Scotland. We very much appreciate it.
Government
Difficult economic circumstances require increased engagement between industry and government and given the origins of the current crisis, this has been particularly true over the last year for our industry, both here in the UK and internationally.
Over and above the very specific relationship that some of our banks now have with governments, it is vital that our industry maintains an open and constructive dialogue with governments at both the UK and devolved levels. Sensible and productive decisions can only be taken when all parties have a full understanding of each other's motivations and drivers thus ensuring a practical approach to aligning the interests of the public and private investors.
To this end, Scottish Financial Enterprise has been focussed on maximising our communication and interaction with the Treasury, with regulators and with the Westminster and the Scottish Government. Your support Secretary of State, as Scotland's Cabinet Minister, batting for Scotland and for our industry at home and overseas has been a great boost for us for which we are very grateful.
SFE
I want to say more about this in a moment, but before I do I would like to update you briefly now on Scottish Financial Enterprise's activities over the last 12 months since our last reception here.
Everyone in this room experienced the shock waves that hit the global financial services industry in 2008 - insightful books documenting the crisis are already filling the shelves at all good book stores and online retailers and there will, no doubt, be many more to come.
The initial impact on us came in the form of a deluge of calls from the media. They were, understandably, looking for comment and explanation as the worldwide industry lurched from one emergency to another and as two of our Scottish banks struggled to survive.
Our role in that reactive situation was - for our Chief Executive, Owen Kelly primarily - to step in and act as the voice of industry when others were not in a position to do so. Not always the easiest call, when no-one was sure of where the story would go next, but it was an essential supportive role.
Our role in influencing decision makers also stepped up a gear. A small representative body could not - and would not attempt to - treat and cure the industry's ailments, but we could bring the right people together, and encourage frank and private dialogue. These meetings involved member companies, politicians from across the political spectrum, and industry figures. They included the Chancellor and the Shadow Chancellor (but not at the same time!), the Governor of the Bank of England, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the FSA's chief executive and the chairman of Lloyds of London. All of these meetings came at critical times in the year, and took on greater purpose, as we all sought to understand and learn lessons from the crisis.
And while the last year has been tough we have never lost sight of the need to continue to promote the industry inside and outside Scotland with special emphasis on our people, our diversity and our history.
During the year we further strengthened the SFE Board, with the appointments of Ken Barclay from RBS and Trevor Hatton from Accenture. One of SFE's strengths is that its membership is drawn from all sectors of the financial services industry and Ken and Trevor will hold special Board responsibility for the banking and business service sectors respectively.
International
The pros and cons of being a truly global industry were sometimes painfully evident in 2008. On the negative side, the speed of communications and the international nature of our business meant that difficulties in one global financial centre very swiftly spread to others.
However a globalised industry also brings opportunities. SFE and member companies were involved in two important industry visits to China - one in the autumn with Scottish Government Ministers, and one earlier this year with our host this evening, Jim Murphy, the Secretary of State for Scotland. They were both hugely valuable visits which demonstrated the reach of Scotland's companies, particularly our asset management sector, and helped build important relationships for the future.
In a similar capacity we also visited Brussels and Geneva and engaged with industry and business representatives across the globe.
Life though is not a one-way street. Scotland remains a competitively priced place to do business, with highly skilled people, good international connections and some fantastic and forward-thinking universities. We are very pleased that during the last year Esure and BNP Paribas have moved jobs to Scotland, and Tesco Personal Finance has announced Edinburgh as its new HQ.
Reputation
So now looking ahead to the next 12 months, one of our major themes will be ‘reputation'. SFE is not infrequently asked about Scotland's reputation as a global financial centre - has it been damaged?
When we canvas views outside the country we very often find that others are too busy dealing with the impact of the global financial crisis on their own companies. They see it as no surprise that Scotland should feel the pain along with every other international centre.
But the question continues to be asked, even if just domestically and we are not complacent.
SFE therefore intends to put a lot of energy in the year ahead into refuting negative claims, and explaining the industry in Scotland, and its diversity.
Given our approach, it was timely to see the Financial Services Global Competitiveness Group report earlier this month. Its remit was to examine the medium to long term challenges to London's continued success in global financial markets. I was very interested to see that one of the report's main proposals was to ‘highlight the contribution of regional financial centres, noting that the majority of financial services jobs in the UK are based outside the City of London'.
We have enjoyed strong links with our colleagues in the City of London, and at IFSL for a long time and now we have the opportunity to work more closely together to ensure that we are all on messages re the direction and strength of the UK industry. I hope that, together, industry, government and representative bodies can focus on promoting what is already good in the industry while focussing on improving what needs to be changed.
Conclusion
Secretary of State, thank you very much for hosting this evening. We will get through these challenging economic times as a stronger and more transparent industry, to the benefit of all. On behalf of Scottish Financial Enterprise may I thank all of you for coming tonight and for your support and may we wish you a very enjoyable evening.
