Labor has launched a business start-up review driven by a group of industry leaders, including former Goldman Sachs chief economist and Conservative treasurer Jim O’Neill, as it seeks to improve its credentials with business.
Announcing the review amid concerns over the strength of the British economy, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labor wanted to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business.
The review will look at issues such as access to long-term funding for start-ups, incentives for growing businesses in the UK, the role of universities and how to increase diversity among British founders and entrepreneurs.
O’Neill, recruited by George Osborne as the star private sector firm to lead the “Northern Power” government project, will be part of the review panel along with entrepreneurs and academics.
Now chairman of Northern Gritstone, an investment firm set up by the universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, O’Neill resigned and resigned from the Conservative whip in 2016 after falling to the government of Theresa May.
Other panel members include Alex Depledge, executive director of the online home improvement platform Resi; technology entrepreneur Tom Adeyoola; and Julie Devonshire, director of entrepreneurship at King’s College London.
The revision comes when Labor attempts raids with business leaders to demonstrate their support for business. Senior party figures believe it has a chance to establish closer ties to corporate boardrooms as conservatives under Boris Johnson destroy its reputation as a natural business party.
Over the past year, Reeves has announced plans to support UK businesses through a proposal to replace commercial tariffs with a new system and proposals to buy, manufacture and sell more in the UK.
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Successive governments have tried to increase the number of startups in Britain to compete with the growth of Internet giants in the US, amid concerns from the business community about the lack of funding and the trend of high-tech companies to trade its shares in New York instead of London.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has launched a £ 250m loan plan for high-growth companies called Future Fund, along with other government programs and reviews on post-Brexit city regulations designed to encourage investment in Great Britain.
Reeves said the problems continued: “Something I’ve heard repeatedly from employers is a real concern about the small number of businesses that appear in the UK and the stubborn hurdles that keep many of them from growing.
“Labor’s mission is to build an institutional ecosystem that provides the market with the access, funding, and skills that new and growing businesses need.”