Potential CBI challenger Business Council holds first meeting

A new council that could challenge the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) as the voice of British business has held its first meeting as it tries to set the agenda before the next general election.

The British Chambers of Commerce’s Business Council gathered at the House of Lords for the meeting, chaired by the BCC’s president, Martha Lane Fox, and discussed policy proposals to improve the UK economy.

The new group was announced in early June with the stated aim to “design and drive the future of the British economy” just weeks after the CBI was plunged into crisis in a scandal over allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct.

Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, attended Thursday’s meeting, as well as Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves. The prime minister’s business adviser, the former Morgan Stanley executive Franck Petitgas, was also present.

The council aims to produce a business manifesto to distribute to the UK’s political parties, focused on themes including “people and work”, “digital revolution”, “green innovation”, “global Britain” and “local economy of the future”.

Policy suggestions gathered by subgroups looking at these issues, which are scheduled to meet in coming weeks, will form the basis for a business manifesto to be published in the new year. This document “will aim to influence political party manifestos”, the BCC said.

Lady Lane Fox said in a statement after the meeting: “In the face of economic disruption and with a general election looming, our new, national Business Council will help the voice of business to be heard loud and clear by policymakers.”

She added that it would act as a “springboard in developing practical and pragmatic policies” for politicians to take up before the next election.

The BCC’s creation of the Business Council in June was seen as aa attempt to become the voice of the UK’s most prominent companies, many of whom quit the CBI or suspended engagement with the group in April, after the Guardian published a series of accounts of more than a dozen women who claimed they were the victims of sexual misconduct by men at the CBI, including two women who alleged they were raped by colleagues.

Founder members of the Business Council include Heathrow, Drax, IHG Hotels & Resorts and BP. Several of these companies were represented at Thursday’s meeting, along with the insurer Aviva.

The BCC has about 100,000 members and operates through a network of 53 independent chambers all over the UK.

It emerged earlier this month that the CBI was in talks with Make UK, the manufacturers’ body, about areas of collaboration which could lead to a merger. However, the CBI is reportedly at risk of insolvency and its pension scheme may be an obstacle to a deal.