Invest Now, Save Later
If the phrase “deficit reduction” characterised the early months of the new Westminster government, for many it has now been superseded by “preventative spending”. Investing wisely at an early stage to avoid spending far more later can save significant sums for the tightly-strung public purse – and one area of huge potential is mediation.
In an article, published in Policy Review magazine in November 2010, John Sturrock and Charlie Woods argue that the cost of conflict in the UK has a hugely detrimental impact on business performance and company valuation: businesses spend an estimated annual £30bn in resolving conflict, taking up 20 per cent of leadership time and resulting in 370 million working days lost.
They highlight recent estimates from CEDR showing that mediation saves the UK an annual £1.4bn. The cost of the mediation services that help achieve these savings is estimated at only £15m. According to a recent EU-funded study, the extra legal costs from not using mediation range from €12,471 to €13,738 per case.
This means, says the article, that businesses should 'Invest Now, Save Later'.