June 2025 

UK Investor Survey: Investors back bold moves as businesses face pressure to reinvent

PwC’s UK Investor Survey reveals a cautiously optimistic investor outlook, with 53% expecting the global economy to improve over the next year. However, investors remain acutely aware of significant risks — including macroeconomic volatility (39%), geopolitical conflict (35%), cyber threats (34%), and climate risks (27%). These concerns are driving expectations for companies to be more transparent, resilient and proactive in how they manage disruption. Notably, 80% of investors say technological change is the key factor forcing companies to evolve how they create value, and 60% see changing customer preferences as a growing pressure.

The call for reinvention is clear: investors want businesses to adapt their models, embrace emerging technologies and manage supply chain instability and regulatory change. Reinforcement of this urgency comes from PwC’s UK CEO Survey, which shows 34% of CEOs believe their business will not remain economically viable in the next decade without transformation. GenAI is a particular focus, with 74% of investors believing it will boost productivity and 60% expecting it to increase profitability. However, barriers persist — nearly half of CEOs cite skills shortages as the biggest obstacle to adopting emerging tech.

Investors are calling for a stronger emphasis on workforce transformation, with 77% stating that upskilling is critical for success. They expect companies not only to invest in GenAI but to build the human capability needed to maximise its impact. PwC's Albertha Charles underlines that GenAI's promise will only be realised when leaders align technology deployment with cultural and behavioural change — making workforce investment as essential as tech investment.

Environmental sustainability is also a top priority. 74% of investors are more likely to invest in businesses taking tangible climate-related actions. However, concerns about greenwashing remain — 41% believe sustainability claims are often unsupported, and 73% want assurance on ESG reporting equivalent to financial disclosures. With regulatory frameworks like the CSRD evolving, the report stresses that businesses can gain investor trust by enhancing sustainability transparency and aligning reporting with rigorous standards.

The Skills and Habits Aspiring CEOs Need to Build

Harvard Business Review explores the evolving competencies required for CEOs to succeed in today’s highly unpredictable environment, shaped by the pandemic, shifting trade tariffs, and the rapid rise of GenAI. With nearly 2,000 CEOs stepping down in 2024, the highest on record, and fewer qualified candidates to replace them, "the traditional leadership playbook is proving inadequate."

Perspectives are shared from former IBM CEO, Ginni Rometty; Nitin Nohria, former Harvard Business School dean; and Korn Ferry CEO, Gary Burnison.  Rometty emphasizes the need for CEOs to be “Olympic learners,” constantly adapting and fostering cultures of continuous growth. She stresses the importance of stewarding technology responsibly by embedding ethics and long-term trust into innovation decisions. Building resilience through authentic relationships and maintaining a constructive attitude amid challenges are also key.

Nohria focuses on the skill of “proportionality,” the ability to accurately assess complex problems, distinguish what requires immediate action from what demands patience, and make informed decisions amid uncertainty. He advocates for creating organisational cultures that encourage rigorous, open dialogue to sharpen judgment collectively.

Burnison identifies the three areas of agility, resilience and integrative thinking as mission-critical traits. CEOs must navigate ambiguity by acting decisively despite incomplete information, bounce back from setbacks with composure, and synthesize diverse and sometimes opposing perspectives into coherent strategies.  Together, these perspectives outline a leadership model rooted in continuous learning, ethical stewardship, nuanced judgment, and deep self-awareness.

What to learn from the M&S and Co-op cyber attacks

Recent hacks against some of the UK’s biggest retailers send a strong message to every sector. Shockwaves have continued to rumble. On 7 May 2025, National Fraud Database coordinator Cifas announced that it had tracked a huge, 1,055% surge in cases of SIM swapping: a social engineering scam whereby criminals hijack someone’s mobile number by porting it to a new SIM. That enables them to intercept two-factor authentication codes and carry out further fraud. With many two-factor authentication systems running off mobile numbers, SIM swapping is a powerful means for hackers to probe vulnerabilities in a company’s IT systems via its own staff.

CISO Radhika Modha outlines critical steps that businesses can take to enhance their preparedness. “Conducting a thorough review of your entire IT infrastructure and assets will help you understand what your attack surface looks like,” she notes. “Then there’s IT support: if your service provider is subcontracting any work linked to your business, consider and risk-assess which third parties are involved and what kind of access they have to your systems.”

The UK government’s Cyber Governance Code of Practice was issued in April 2025. “That effectively sets out the main thrust of all the things that companies should be thinking about,” says Lindsay Hill, CEO of cyber-security specialist Mitigo. “At this stage, it’s not a legal requirement. But in its accompanying text, the government says that it will consider making it compulsory going forward, depending on the uptake.”

Commercial Excellence and Revenue Growth Agenda 2025

The Commercial Excellence and Revenue Growth Agenda 2025 report by Bain & Company provides a data-rich analysis of what distinguishes high-growth B2B firms from their peers in a changing economic and technological landscape. The report draws from a global survey of 1,263 commercial executives across 18 industries and underscores how leading firms are embracing AI at scale, implementing dynamic pricing strategies, and driving commercial productivity through well-orchestrated sales playbooks and targeted investments.

High-performing companies—those achieving more than twice the industry-average revenue growth in 2024—consistently invest in AI not as isolated pilots but as integrated, core capabilities across sales, pricing, and productivity functions. These “winners” deployed an average of 4.5 AI use cases compared to 3.3 among laggards and saw nearly 2x the cost efficiencies. Notably, 57% of firms scaling AI reported results exceeding expectations. Key AI use cases included automating sales rep tasks, personalised marketing, sales coaching, and pricing optimisation. However, implementation challenges persist, especially in Europe, where issues like fragmented data systems and inconsistent tech integration remain barriers to scaling AI impact.

UK and European firms are particularly focused on overcoming legacy technology limitations and data quality challenges. The report highlights that 47% of respondents face incomplete or low-quality data, and 44% struggle with poorly configured tech stacks. These challenges are especially pressing in sectors such as industrials, logistics, and construction, which are prominent across the UK and EU B2B economy. Despite this, forward-looking firms are making significant investments in automation, frontline coaching, and AI-led pricing intelligence, with European respondents also emphasising ESG goals as part of their growth strategies.

Looking ahead to 2025, firms globally expect to grow revenue by 1.3x over 2024 levels, with European firms showing cautious optimism. However, challenges like salesforce productivity (42% cite it as their top concern), pricing pressures (38%), and the effective use of AI (37%) dominate executive agendas. Bain recommends that to sustain competitive advantage, firms must adopt a multiyear approach to transformation, embed AI into tech stacks, train frontline teams on value-based selling, and formalise commercial productivity initiatives. Those who do are not only outpacing rivals but also increasing profit margins by up to 11 percentage points over peers who cannot pass on input costs.

Book Review: How to Talk to Your Enemies, by Alicia Dunams

In an era marked by polarization and escalating tensions, Alicia Dunams’ How to Talk to Your Enemies arrives as a timely, practical guide for navigating the kinds of difficult conversations most of us would rather avoid. Far from being abstract or overly academic, this book is grounded in real-world application, offering readers both a framework for shifting their mindset and actionable scripts for dealing with conflict in everyday life.

Dunams covers three distinct parts: developing a compassionate and open-minded mindset, equipping readers with specific conversation scripts for tough situations, and offering strategies for maintaining healthy relationships moving forward. One of the book’s principles is the “Platinum Rule,” which challenges readers not just to treat others as they wish to be treated, but as those others would wish to be treated. 

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its emphasis on empathy and mindfulness without falling into the trap of unrealistic idealism. Dunams acknowledges the discomfort and difficulty inherent in these conversations while providing concrete tools to manage them. The book also encourages readers to reflect on their own triggers and assumptions, fostering a more introspective approach to conflict resolution. Dunams delivers a valuable resource for anyone eager to improve communication skills, build bridges and engage with empathy — even when it’s uncomfortable. In today’s divided world, that’s a message well worth hearing.

Women in Work 2025: Productivity and Gender: The key to solving the growth puzzle

The PwC Women in Work 2025 report provides a comprehensive analysis of gender equality in the workplace across OECD countries, with a particular focus on the UK. Despite overall progress in narrowing gender disparities globally, the UK slipped to 18th place in the Women in Work Index—its lowest position in over a decade. This decline occurred even though the UK improved its gender wage gap from 14.5% to 13.3% and maintained a high female labour force participation rate of 74.8%. The UK’s drop in ranking was driven by other countries advancing more quickly, as well as a widening participation rate gap and persistently low female full-time employment.

Key findings for the UK highlight the significant economic benefit of increasing female participation in the workforce. Since 2011, this uplift has contributed £6.2 billion per year to UK GDP. If current progress continues, this could translate into a £43.5 billion boost by 2030. PwC’s analysis shows a clear correlation between rising female workforce participation and productivity, driven through expanded labour supply and enhanced workplace diversity. Closing the gap between male and female participation rates by 2045 could yield an additional £4.7 billion per year.

Regionally, Scotland topped the UK’s Women in Work Regional Index for the second year, driven by a sharp reduction in the gender pay gap and the lowest male-female participation gap. The North East showed the most improvement, while regions like the East of England saw significant declines. These disparities reflect the uneven impact of macroeconomic trends and regional policy interventions, underscoring the need for targeted strategies to promote gender equality.

The report also underscores how life-stage factors, particularly around childbearing years, significantly influence women's participation in the UK. The 'motherhood penalty' continues to hinder women’s long-term career prospects, especially among those aged 25–44. PwC warns that without more decisive policy action—such as improving childcare access, supporting flexible work, and addressing sectoral imbalances—the pace of change will remain slow, with gender pay parity still more than 30 years away in the UK.

Why are more CHROs in boardrooms today? People, risk and more

WTW highlight the increasing prominence and participation of chief human resource officers on company boards of directors. As intangible assets represent a larger portion of company valuations and board skill requirements expand in a changing world — with people playing a larger role in driving material levels of performance and risk — effective boards incorporate human capital measurement into governance processes and engage those with HR expertise to guide them.

CHRO-board engagement is evolving at publicly traded companies in the U.S. and Europe. Nearly 70% of companies surveyed reported increased CHRO engagement with the board over the past three years.  The share of directors with human capital expertise at publicly traded companies in the U.S. is rising (38% of S&P 500 and 25.5% of Russell 3000 companies in 2024). WTW's 2025 Global Directors’ and Officers’ Survey Report listed health and safety as the top risk for board members for the second year in a row, followed by data loss and cyberattacks. All three of these factors are directly connected to human capital governance.

Summer Reading 2025

Need more inspiration for the holiday? Catch the latest page-turners on business and beyond. 

J.P.Morgan, "Summer Reading List" - 16 titles to unlock curiosity this summer

Financial Times, "Best summer books of 2025: Business" - Andrew Hill selects his best mid-year reads 

Bill Gates, "5 memoirs that helped shape my own"

Forbes, "Executive Reading List: Six Timeless Books For 2025"

In Association with the KPMG Board Leadership Centre

Sam Allen Associates is proud to partner with KPMG’s Board Leadership Centre in delivering the latest insight to Directors. KPMG has an established reputation as a trusted advisor to many of the UK’s board members and KPMG Connect On Board, which is part of the Board Leadership Centre, has been designed to help non-executive directors, both current and aspirant to find their next appointment.

To hear about Board appointments and to support your non-executive career you will be able to register here.

SAA is an accredited Board Reviewer

SAA has been evaluated by The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland, which concluded that our Board Performance Reviews exemplify outstanding service and adhere to their Code of Practice. We continue to partner with clients across a range of ownership structures on value-adding Board Effectiveness Reviews. 

School for CEOs is leading an immersive two-day programme, The Vital Few, taking place  8-9 October 2025 and 18-19 Mar 2026. The programme is designed to expose new CEOs and Executives to potential derailers, learning through the experiences of those who have been there before, so that they can step up to CEO with confidence and eyes wide open. 

Listen In

Season 8, Episode 3: Cyber Automation and Burnout

The podcast explores how automation is transforming cybersecurity operations while addressing the issue of burnout among security professionals. Guest host, Ashleigh Baker, and experts; Patrick Bayle, SecOps Consultant Manager at Palo Alto, and Softcat's Senior Security Architect, Mark Williams, discuss how overwhelming workloads, alert fatigue, and the constant influx of vulnerabilities contribute to stress and burnout in security operations centers (SOCs). Analysts are increasingly burdened by the sheer volume of alerts and repetitive tasks, which reduces their capacity to focus on proactive threat hunting and higher-value activities. 

Several real-world use cases are presented to illustrate automation's benefits beyond cybersecurity, such as automating IT ticket processes, phishing response playbooks, insider threat monitoring, and cross-departmental task automation. They also mention cost-saving examples, such as automating 24/7 phone line monitoring, which replaced expensive third-party services. The speakers encourage organisations to start small with automation—tackling frequent, low-risk tasks first—to build trust and maturity before addressing more complex processes. Resistance often stems from fear of automation errors and the risks of bypassing traditional change management processes, but thoughtful safeguards and escalation points can mitigate these concerns.

And Finally...

Deep discoveries, landmark lawsuits and rising renewables: Positive environmental stories from 2025