Over recent years, experts have been widely dismissed by ministers, most notably by Michael Gove. However, it looks like that blinkered attitude is changing. Could it signal an opportunity for business?
In an interesting move, the new government has actively embraced several high-profile individuals, each with real-life, coalface business experience. They’ve been tasked with helping rebuild and transform key public services, recognised by the public as being broken.
Following the General Election, the state of our prisons, transport system and energy security are in the spotlight, and in a positive move, the government has recruited business leaders to advise on the way forward.
To the cynical, some might suggest if the reform doesn’t work, they can blame business, but let’s be positive and see if it brings a return to having a ‘government of all the talents’.
The new arrivals include James Timpson, chief executive of Timpsons, respected for his innovative approach and commitment to supporting former prisoners back into employment. Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, CBE, becomes minister of state for rail, bringing with him his years of experience as the former commissioner of Transport for London and chair of Network Rail. And finally, Juergen Maier, the former chief executive of Siemens UK, with experience in industrial digitisation, transport infrastructure and decarbonisation of the power generation system, will take on chair of Great British Energy.
The other big takeaway from the General Election was the ambition to return the economy to growth, and that’s where businesses come in.
As a keen observer of the government’s relationship with businesses, regardless of their colour, I’d argue this is a positive move. In stark contrast, it follows the previous government’s decision to scrap Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP), the business-led network tasked with championing economic growth, infrastructure and housing delivery.
The business knowledge that was within South East LEP will now be shared around and put to good use in the partnerships that cover Kent & Medway, Essex and East Sussex – each now defined as a Local Economic Area (LEA).
The question is: how can business keep its seat at the table? The answer has to be ensuring that businesses are seen at the heart of the success of each LEA, recognised by national and local government to be true partners.
Too often, business is seen as the bad guy or the cause of the problem, especially in the world of 24/7 social media. The reality is that 99.99% of companies do the right thing, day in and day out, their stories often go untold, and that impacts their ability to influence politicians.
Navigating the changing political and economic development landscape is never easy. It can be made all the harder if a business doesn’t have a strong public profile. In short, business has to tell its story better. If you’ve got genuine experts and industry leaders in your business, give them a voice – and get a seat at the table.
