A new business council has been appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ‘report from the business frontlines’ and to ‘encourage stability and growth in the UK economy’.

Fourteen business leaders, from a range of sectors across the UK economy, have joined the Prime Minister’s new Business Council. 

Chief Executives from AstraZeneca, NatWest Group and BAE Systems are among the fourteen business leaders joining the council, alongside SSE, Google Deepmind, Sainsbury’s and Vodafone. Other companies represented on the council include GSK, Aviva, Shell, Sage, Taylor Wimpey, Diageo and Barclays.

These leaders are recognised as trusted experts in their respective fields and are in charge of some of the country’s biggest employers in strategically important industries for UK growth, from construction, life-sciences and tech, to financial services and energy.

Together, they employ around 330,000 people across the country, with an even greater reach throughout their supply chain and a presence globally too.

The newly appointed Business Council is intended to be a forum to bring a real-world perspective on how the current economic climate is impacting business and how government and industry can work together to boost investment and innovation, drive productivity and create highly skilled jobs.

Only time will tell if the UK government listens to the appointed business leaders.  Certainly, encouraging investment, removing barriers to trade, and encouraging new opportunities would be welcomed by all businesses. 

Our view…

It would be helpful if there was an effective way of feeding input from the leaders of smaller businesses up to policy makers, given the numbers in the UK and the impact they make on the economy. Whilst 330,000 employees sounds a lot, the small businesses across the UK employ far more than that, and consequently have a greater and much wider influence.

Whilst the businesses included in the new business council are large employers, their leaders are likely to be far removed from the day to day challenges faced by small business owners, many of whom currently feel let-down and ignored.