Dispatch from Davos 2025: Did Reeves impress?
Rachel Reeves promised to “sell Britain” at Davos 2025, but did she succeed? Comms afficionado Zaki Cooper reports from the Swiss Alps
Was Reeves able to sell Britain at Davos?
Against the stunning backdrop of the snow-covered mountains at Davos 2025 for the 55th World Economic Forum meeting, there was palpable interest in Britain. How was the new government doing? Were they creating a business-friendly environment? At the Forum, attended by political, business and civil society leaders, the UK was on people’s minds. This year’s gathering was the first Davos attended by a Labour government for 15 years, and the world has changed dramatically in that time.
At an excellent breakfast event organised by Bloomberg on Wednesday morning, Chancellor Rachel Reeves explained that “I am here to sell Britain.” When asked whether she was relaxed about wealth creation, her response without any hesitation was absolutely.
The grisly economic reality is, of course, more complicated. Her explanation of the government’s tight fiscal position was listened to respectfully, even though the largely business audience were not totally aligned. At another meeting, one British entrepreneur confessed that international investors had told him that he would be better off growing and scaling his company overseas.
Catching up over coffee with a well-placed DC insider, he remarked on the exodus from the UK of wealthy and successful business people, and said that Milan and Dubai were benefiting from this. This was also highlighted at a breakfast panel for wealth managers and family offices, which Integra co-founder Nick spoke at.
But it’s not all bleak news. The UK has a tremendous amount going for it. A survey by PWC showed that the UK has jumped to second in a list of most attractive countries to invest in.
Sometimes we are too shy about articulating our strengths. Many other countries have no such hesitations. This was reflected on walking up and down the main promenade in Davos. It was noticeable how emerging economies had taken space to showcase their strengths. Along the main promenade, the likes of India, Brazil, Indonesia, the UAE and Qatar all had prominent “houses”, essentially grand exhibition spaces telling a story about their country and presenting themselves as attractive destinations for inward investment, trade and tourism.
In the UK, we are famous for our reserve and modesty. But in the competitive global economy, turning up the volume in international forums like WEF would not go amiss.
Trump dials in to Davos
Donald Trump may not have been physically present at Davos, but he cast a long shadow. The new US President, the attention-seeker-in-chief, was the talk of the town during the week, especially when he joined the conference on Thursday by video-link. The most entertaining event I attended was a sparkling dialogue organised by Zurich between the historian Sir Niall Ferguson and the businessman/commentator, Anthony Scaramucci, who used to work for Trump, including 11 days in the White House before being fired! One key point to emerge is that Trump 2.0 is different to 2017, when he was not expecting to win and completely ill-prepared to govern.
U-S-A(I)
If I had a pound, or a unit of Trump cryptocurrency, for every time AI was mentioned at Davos, then I’d have made a killing. The big tech companies, both B2B and B2C, were out in full force. One of the points made is how advanced the US is on AI compared to the rest of the world. A case in point is that of the money invested in generative AI globally over the past two years, 80 per cent has gone to the US, versus less than 20 per cent for Europe.
Quote of the week
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”
CBI boss Rain Newton-Smith, channelling the spirit of Davos, quoted US author Helen Keller
Phone bans cause a buzz
Jonathan Haidt, the New York Professor was at Davos, talking about his book The Anxious Generation. Haidt advocates a social media ban for under-16s and a smartphone ban for under-14s. His book has attracted huge interest from parents of children addicted to screens, and the events he spoke at were packed to the rafters.
Beckham turns up for Brand Britain
David Beckham was at Davos to receive WEF’s Crystal Award and was interviewed about his career and future plans. He now styles himself as a businessman and a philanthropist. He mentioned his proud patriotism and his patronage of the King’s Foundation. In these global settings, there are few finer ambassadors for Brand Britain.
Zaki Cooper is the director and co-founder of Integra Group, a communications advisory firm working with family offices, entrepreneurs and businesses