Emerging Stronger - How UK Businesses Responded to the Recession

Cartching up on some extra research or AQA BUSS4, I really like this article in the Independent from a few weeks ago which summarises quite neatly the key strategies (mainly financial though) which UK firms undertook during the recession. Well worth students reading this one and adding a note or more to their revision sheets:

Key points (all of which we made in the BUSS4 workshops) include:

Strengthened balance sheets (more equity & cash; less debt) Focus on reducing inefficiencies (i.e. minimising unit costs) Exploit faster-growing economies in the emerging markets (particularly China & Asia) Maximised cash flow by dramatically cutting back on capital spending Action to reduce labour costs - but not just redundancies After a period of dividend freezes or postponements, larger firms are now rewarding shareholders

Some good “macro” or big picture content there - the challenge for students is to identify and use more detailed, specific examples of these actions in their essays