A new survey, conducted by ACS international schools amongst accompanying partners, those who moved to the UK with their partner relocating on business from another country, has found that the top three best things about relocation to the UK were described as nature, (greenery and the outdoors), friendly and kind people and the country’s diverse history and culture. A quarter of respondents were pleasantly surprised by the weather, and a third, 31 per cent, by the social and cultural diversity. Rating the services and support offered on arrival to the UK, the worst rated service was telephone or internet connection, followed by buying a car and in third place connecting to the utilities.Asked ‘How does the reality of daily life in the UK compare with your expectations?’ well over a half, 59 per cent, were most pleasantly surprised by how quickly their children settled in, followed by ‘the quality of the residential environment I now live in.Top five positive surprises for the partners of professionals relocating to the UK (per cent):

• How quickly my children settled in                                   59
• The quality of the residential environment I now live in      54
• How safe I feel going out                                                53
• The variety of cultural and social activities available          47
• Variety and quality of food                                              40

Business assignments to the UK, where senior level executives relocate here temporarily for work, can represent significant financial investments by the employer.  The second most common reason for them to fail is ‘the inability of the family to adjust’. (Source: Cartus  Global Relocation Survey). This makes the welfare of the accompanying partner and their family very important for global business success. This is also why ACS International Schools, with the largest expatriate community in South East England, and with seventy different nationalities represented across its three UK schools, has conducted this survey of accompanying partners and their experience of relocating to the UK.The results show that a wide group of organisations help support a successful relocation to the UK.  Asked who provided useful support for the different aspects of their move, ‘employers and HR departments’ were rated best for professional help by forty per cent of respondents. For practical matters, ‘relocation agents’ topped the poll rated best at 19 per cent; and ‘school’ was rated best for social support by almost a third, 31 one per cent.Almost half, 47 per cent of the 85 respondents had given up a job to come to the UK with their partner and family, and for themselves found the greatest levels of support came from friends, 33 per cent; followed family, 23 per cent; expat groups, 21 per cent and school, 14 per cent.There are clearly many positives to relocating to the UK, and when asked what were the top three things ACS respondents were secretly pleased to leave behind, the list placed family and family dramas first, second were old routines and in third place politics and security issues. Leaving behind in-laws as a positive was, thankfully, mentioned by a just a few.

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