Potential CBI challenger Business Council holds first meeting
A new council that could challenge the CBI as the voice of British business is to hold its first meeting as it tries to set the agenda before the next general election.
The British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) Business Council will gather at the House of Lords for the meeting, chaired by Martha Lane Fox, president of the BCC, and discuss policy proposals to improve the UK economy.
The group 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”.
Lady Lane Fox told Radio 4’s Today programme that Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, will attend the meeting on Thursday morning to discuss the role that business can play. Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, will also attend.
“It’s going to be a really interesting meeting with lots of different people represented and, as we know, a very business agenda to talk about right now,” Lane Fox added.
The BCC’s Business Council, unveiled in early June, aims to “design and drive the future of the British economy”, weeks after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) was plunged into crisis in a scandal over allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct.
The BCC’s move was seen as a bid 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 council include Heathrow, Drax, IHG Hotels & Resorts and BP.
The BCC has about 100,000 members and operates through a network of 53 independent chambers all over the UK.
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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.