LONDON - Major British and U.S. companies are focusing on a return to revenue growth in 2010 over cost-cutting, and IT is central to their recovery strategies, according to a survey by consultants Gartner.

In 2009, CEOs prioritized cost cutting to cope with the downturn, but a year later the focus for 71 percent is a return to revenue growth, the survey of 190 senior business leaders found.

Business leaders are gasping for growth after a long period holding their breath, and they are expecting to increase the importance of IT in their post-recession approach, said Mark Raskino, Gartner research vice president.

Some 43 percent of respondents intended to increase IT investment, the survey found, while 45 percent planned to keep it at the same level and 13 percent were eyeing a cut.

Gartner's poll presented a more positive picture than a survey of 102 chief information officers carried out by UBS in the third quarter that forecast a 1 percent decline in IT budgets over the next 12 months.

Gartner surveyed 190 senior business executives, 81 of whom were CEOs, running companies with annual revenues of more than $1 billion, during the third quarter.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Dan Lalor)

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