Press Release
26th June 2013
Passion and Entrepreneurship are key to growth at 9thHart Brown Economic Forum
Despite a continuing gloomy economic outlook for 2013, the themes of passion and entrepreneurship dominated as the two key ingredients for growth and business success at the 9thHart Brown Annual Economic Forum held at theUniversity of Surrey's School of Management.
Introduced by Bettina Brueggemann, Managing Partner ofHart Brown, the theme for the 9thForum was ‘The Turning Point'. With economic recovery uncertain and some economists claiming that Britain is; "through the worst of the economic storm," Bettina Brueggemann's opening speech began with her hope that the turning point would have happened by now in the year since the Firm's last Forum, but in reality it was probably not the case. "It is more likely that we are on the road to a slow recovery with a very long turning point."
The first guest speaker Jeremy Batstone-Carr, Chief Economist and Strategist at Charles Stanley, painted a gloomy picture of Britain's economy, stating, "Growth maybe; but, recovery no." His detailed economic analysis stressed the significance of private sector deleveraging and private sector debt in the continuing poor performance of the economy, with an estimate for Real GDP in 2013 of 0.7-1%. Credit growth and consumer spending remain weak, and global debasement of the currency continues. As an economist, he stated that "you have to dare to think some dangerous things", and continued that Government expenditure as GDP needs to fall, which will be both painful and unpopular. Despite his message of poor under-performance, Batstone-Carr did have some positives for the 400 strong audience stressing the importance of entrepreneurs and de-regulation, and the prediction that inflation will fall later in the year. However, he speculated that the jury was still out on whether the new appointment of Mark Carney at the Bank of England will make any significant difference to what's happening in the economy.
The theme of entrepreneurship continued with the second guest speaker , Rob Lucy, MD Claremont Prime, a property and investment company based in Cranleigh, who outlined his business journey from "boom to bust" going from a portfolio of 600 properties around the world to winding up the business after the 2007 crash, and starting all over again. His speech was inspiring and humorous, showing anything is possible, with the message being for businesses to stick to their core skills and, to "concentrate on what you are best at, and don't over diversify or lose sight of key strengths." He also advised businesses to "learn from past mistakes, take risks, concentrate on quality over quantity, but most importantly, be passionate."
The final speaker of the evening was Peter Molyneux, founder of 22 Cans, and leading player in the gaming industry, who continued with the ‘passion is everything' theme. "Passion is everything and creating something that has never existed before" was his key message. A speech full of passion for his industry and humour, taking the audience on a journey from his humble beginnings in a flat selling baked beans to the creation of his first company Bullfrog, to his second Lionhead Studios (named after one of his partner's hamsters, which subsequently passed away on the launch of the company!) which was acquired by Microsoft, and finally 22 Cans. In addition to having a mission to turn us all into ‘Gamers', he stressed the need to take risks for the sake of creativity, if you have a good idea to "stick to it", and to remember to re-invent yourself, as becoming too comfortable was one of his own drivers for change in his businesses.
A question and answer session followed the presentations, which was expertly chaired by the University of Surrey's Professor in Economics,Neil Rickman.
"As always I am very grateful to our speakers at the 9thAnnual Hart Brown Economic Forum for giving us their expert insights which they did in a humorous but motivational way. The feedback from attendees suggests that they see this as the most popular Forum yet. Businesses will have taken away some key messages which we hope will help them move forward over the next 12 months. I'd also like to thank our lead sponsors, the University of Surrey and Guildford Borough Council, whose support enables us to bring this high calibre event to Surrey."commented Bettina Brueggemann, Managing Partner, Hart Brown.
The Economic Forum was supported by the University of Surrey and Guildford Borough Council. Downloads of the speaker presentation notes are available from the Hart Brown Economic Forum website at:http://www.economic-forum.co.uk/
As a regular highlight in the business calendar in Surrey, people might like to make a note in the diary that the 10th Hart Brown Economic Forum will be held on 24th June 2014.
<<ends>>
PHOTO AVAILABLE
About Hart Brown
Hart Brown, a leading law firm with offices throughout Surrey and in London, has been offering a full range of legal and financial investment services to businesses and individuals for the past 90 years. With 15 partners, more than 110 staff, six offices and a reputation for delivering high quality service, Hart Brown is committed to building long-term relationships with its clients.
In particular, the firm puts great emphasis on regular communication with clients, as well as the need for efficiency and value for money in order to deliver a high-quality service. Hart Brown currently operates from offices located in Cobham, Cranleigh, Godalming, Guildford, Wimbledon Village and Woking. For more information please visit www.hartbrown.co.uk
Press Contact:
Alison Scarrott at Chazbrooks Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 537890 Email:alisons@chazb.com
Hart Brown Contact:
Rebecca White, Hart Brown
Tel: +44 (0)1483 887766 Email:rjw@hartbrown.co.ukwww.http://www.hartbrown.co.uk