皇冠体育app

Thanks John [Sergeant].

It鈥檚 a real pleasure to be here with you all this evening.

And to have shared a table with so many fascinating people.

One of my favourite pieces of modern political folklore鈥�

Is the tale about the time George W Bush, Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac held a meeting鈥�

Which covered 鈥� amongst other things 鈥� the decline of the French economy鈥�

And emerging from the meeting, it was alleged that Bush turned to Blair and said鈥�

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp problem with the French Tony, is that they don鈥檛 have a word for entrepreneur.鈥�

As you can imagine, I was disappointed to discover that the story wasn鈥檛 true!

But I think there is 鈥� if you will 鈥� a lot of truth in the sentiment of it.

Because where economies become stagnant.

It is often because they don鈥檛 have individuals鈥�

Like many of you here tonight鈥�

With the ideas鈥�

And the energy鈥�

And the get up and go鈥�

To drive them forward.

So I鈥檓 absolutely delighted to be here tonight鈥�

At an event celebrating growth鈥�

At a time when we can say that the recovery is under way.

皇冠体育appre is a long way to go, but Britain is on its way back.

Back when we first came to office, we inherited a bleak economic outlook.

皇冠体育appre was even a joke doing the rounds about the young entrepreneur who went into a bank, and said they wanted to start a small business.

鈥楳y advice,鈥� the banker said 鈥榠s to start a large business, and give it a couple years鈥�.

But many of you are here today because you did go and see the bank.

And you did get the finance you needed 鈥� whether from the bank or not鈥�

And not only did you set up businesses鈥�

You set up successful businesses.

And because of the hard work you鈥檝e put in.

皇冠体育app economy is growing.

So now the UK鈥檚 growth forecast has been upgraded by more than any other G7 country.

And the growth that you are helping to create is already making a difference.

Since early 2010, private businesses just like yours have created 1.4million jobs in the private sector, supported by the decisions the government has taken.

And over the last year, employment in the UK has grown faster than in France Italy, Japan鈥�

And faster than the EU28 and the G7 average鈥�

So there are now more people in work than ever before.

This growth isn鈥檛 an abstract concept or a dry figure in a spread sheet.

And neither does it happen by accident.

It鈥檚 what you, the businesses of Britain create.

Most people will never understand the efforts you鈥檝e put in鈥�

皇冠体育app ups and downs you鈥檝e endured鈥�

皇冠体育app sacrifices you鈥檝e made to build up your businesses.

Government doesn鈥檛 create growth.

You do.

But we can create the right conditions for you to grow.

And that鈥檚 what we鈥檝e been working hard for 3 陆 years to do.

Taking difficult decisions to build a more competitive and fair tax system.

Investing in skills and infrastructure.

Tackling regulation.

Reforming the planning system.

And taking very tough decisions to reduce government spending鈥�

To maintain our international strength credibility鈥�

So that as a country we can pay our way in the world.

Just like the growth that we鈥檙e celebrating tonight though鈥�

皇冠体育app actions that we鈥檝e taken, are the result of having a vision鈥�

Making a plan鈥�

And sticking to it.

But before we go into the celebrations of tonight, I want to ask something of you, and businesses across the UK.

Everyone in this room is working hard to make sure that UK growth continues鈥�

But to achieve that, we need the economy to be even more productive.

So we increase the rate at which we are creating wealth.

Here鈥檚 a startling figure that is central to my 鈥榓sk鈥�.

拢500 billion. I鈥檓 sure you would agree that is a large sum of money?

This is the amount of cash deposits currently held by non-financial UK companies.

It has risen by 拢14 billion in the last quarter.

拢104 billion since pre crisis levels.

That鈥檚 a 26% increase.

拢500 billion pounds.

To put it in perspective.

It鈥檚 enough to have 50 Olympic Games鈥�

It鈥檚 enough to have 10 HS2s鈥�

If instead of sitting on that extra 拢104 billion last year鈥�

Businesses had increased their investment by just 10% in 2012.

皇冠体育appn the level of GDP would be 拢12 billion higher.

That鈥檚 almost a whole percentage point on GDP growth.

While you are here because during the tough times you decided to invest鈥�

I know that over the last few years, economic uncertainty made investment harder for many.

And I know that there remains some international uncertainty鈥�

But now that the public finances are on a stable path鈥�

And with confidence growing鈥�

And a brighter future ahead鈥�

I hope you will agree that there鈥檚 never been a better time to invest.

We鈥檝e done the emergency repairs鈥�

皇冠体育app engine has had a full service and is getting going again.

But it won鈥檛 get into top gear until British business starts investing some of the half trillion pounds worth of cash it鈥檚 built up in reserve.

皇冠体育app recovery needs you and you need the recovery.

Your country needs you to invest.

I鈥檓 sure I鈥檓 preaching to the converted here鈥�

Because as each of you built up your companies鈥�

Product by product鈥�

Employee by employee鈥�

You will have been constantly reinvesting as much profit as you could.

To move to that larger premises.

Or to buy that new piece of machinery.

And we need businesses across Britain to follow the example of those in this room and keep investing.

皇冠体育app government is doing its bit.

We are investing on a massive scale.

In our physical capital.

In June this year, I announced a comprehensive, ambitious and long-lasting plan to invest in the arteries of connectivity and commerce that are the foundation of future success:

皇冠体育app largest programme of rail investment since Victorian times.

皇冠体育app greatest investment in our roads since the 1970s.

Fast online access for the whole country.

And a massive investment in cleaner energy, to power our economy forwards.

And we鈥檙e investing in our human capital too.

Raising standards in schools鈥�

Massively expanding apprenticeships鈥�

Helping to ensure that the young people of today鈥�.

Have the skills employers like you will need tomorrow.

I expect that when I鈥檓 invited onto television later in the week to comment on the latest GDP figures鈥�

Most of the questions asked will focus on the politics of how to divide wealth.

But in order to divide wealth, first we have to create it.

And you鈥檙e the people who do that.

We will never forget that.

And if what we see tonight is anything to go on鈥�

皇冠体育appn the growth that you鈥檙e helping to create is balanced across the regions and countries of our nations 鈥�

Just look at the list of nominees:

Care Homes in Scotland鈥�

Coffee Machine Manufacturing in Birmingham鈥�

Gas valves from a company in Cheshire鈥�

Gastronomy from our farms in Yorkshire鈥�

To name just a few鈥�

And tonight we鈥檙e here to celebrate your successes.

You should all be incredibly proud of your work and of your businesses鈥�

And everything you鈥檝e achieved to be nominated this evening.

So I鈥檇 like to leave wishing the best of luck to all the nominees for tonight.

And the best of luck to all of you for the future.

Together we are building a stronger economy.