The Prime Minister will welcome business leaders, entrepreneurs and local mayors to Downing Street on Monday to pitch his government as a “growth partner” that can offer a stable platform for investment and jobs in the UK.
Ahead of the event, Andy Burnham said the country had “what it takes to succeed”, including talented people and world-class universities, but it needed a “cultural shift in the way Britain does business” to reach its full potential.
The new prime minister has promised to “reindustrialize Britain” through a new partnership with business. “This means the government must stand firmly behind people who take risks, start companies, create jobs and implement new ideas,” he said.
“This means ambition will be rewarded, making it easier to start and grow a business, and giving people confidence that if they have a great idea, they will get all the support they need to make it a reality.”
Burnham will host a roundtable with entrepreneurs including the founders of Octopus Energy, Revolut and Starling Bank, as well as quantum computing companies including Oxford Quantum Circuits, before inviting the heads of some of the UK’s biggest businesses to a reception at No 10 along with regional mayors.
They include executives from financial firms HSBC, Aviva and Standard Chartered, supermarkets Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, telecoms groups BT and Vodafone, oil companies BP and Shell, and manufacturers Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems.
Monday’s round of meetings comes as Burnham and Chancellor John Healey prepare to deliver their first budget on October 28.
Burnham promised to deliver economic growth across the country and transfer power and resources to Westminster to achieve this. But Healey faces a daunting task: presenting his budget against a backdrop of rising borrowing costs and the impact of the war with Iran on the global economy.
Although the economy unexpectedly grew 0.4% in July, boosted by artificial intelligence and cloud computing, economists warn that rising energy prices could hold back growth in August and September.
Suren Thiru, chief economist at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said the chancellor could face a “fiscal headache” if economic growth begins to slow, as muted growth and rising borrowing costs undermine his fiscal cushion, raising the prospect of further tax rises.
Both Burnham and Healey stressed their commitment to the budget rules set by former chancellor Rachel Reeves, which require day-to-day spending to be covered by taxes and for public debt to fall as a share of the economy by 2029/30. They are also bound by the Labor Party’s commitment not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT.
In his first major speech as chancellor last week, Healey said stimulating economic growth would be his defining mission as chancellor, but also warned that Labor must “be honest” about the need to control public spending in next month’s Budget.
He talked about putting more power and resources in the hands of local leaders, lowering the cost of doing business and using public investment to attract private capital.