Yahoo Finance CBI urges UK to focus beyond Brexit to prepare businesses for 2018
British companies need “unity, clarity and certainty” from politicians rather than the constantly changing policies of the past year if business is to thrive in 2018, according to the CBI.
In a year-end letter to members which also set out priorities for the the next 12 months, Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the business lobby group called for an end to the near-total focus on Brexit after what she described as a “jaw-dropping, roller-coaster” year.
While acknowledging the impact Britain leaving the EU will have on business, Ms Fairbairn also said other issues facing the country must be tackled.
“From our politicians we need unity, clarity and certainty, not a different opinion every day,” she said. “Politics will need to work on business timescales if we are to get the right result for the country.”
Warning that companies “should be under no illusions about the scale of heavy lifting needed in 2018”, Ms Fairbairn said the UK must not be left behind by the changing world.
“The world around us is transforming,” she said. “While the UK is consumed with Brexit, China is building a global infrastructure through One Belt, One Road while other nations are seizing the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution.
“The world won’t wait for Britain. We must get on, at speed and with great determination, with adapting our economy for the future.”
While achieving a binding Brexit transitional deal by the end of the first quarter to safeguard free trade with the EU remains a top issue, the CBI - which represents 190,000 UK businesses - described it as “only part of the picture,” adding that there are many more “fundamental building blocks of the economy… that are firmly within our control”.
The business group said the UK must act to tackle the UK’s skills shortages, promote innovation and develop infrastructure to thrive in the coming year.
The country faces a “skills emergency” according to Ms Fairbairn, who said the CBI will be campaigning this year for better careers advice and people under the age of 16 to have at least four chances at sampling work.
Technical skills will also be a focus, with the group working to champion better technical education, apprenticeships and reskilling adults.
Work will also take place on innovation to commercialise research out of the country’s universities, a drive aimed at improving the UK’s poor productivity.
Pressure will also be applied by the CBI to ensure that infrastructure projects - such as expanding Heathrow and the HS2 rail link - move ahead.