UK
companies lose out on £750m a year because staff
have poor foreign language skills.
A
survey of 950 foreign firms by market researcher ICLP reveals three-quarters of
them decided not to use a UK
company because its staff only spoke English. Those with translators fared
little better, the survey shows.
ICLP’s Ian Hutchinson said:
“British companies are perceived as very talented. However, the most
influential negative is their inability to speak languages.”
Just
22 per cent of UK
managers knew the Spanish for ‘yes’ and ‘no’, according to the survey.