The new Business Council for Britain, set up by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has come under further fire for ‘sidelining’ smaller businesses, after the recent confirmation of its members.
The members of the council have been chosen on the basis of being ‘senior representatives of UK-based businesses’, according to the government, and will advise Brown on issues that affect enterprise, business and the long-term competitiveness of the economy.
The confirmed members of the council are Sir Richard Branson, Damon Buffini (managing partner, Permira), Mervyn Davies (chairman, Standard Chartered Bank), Stephen Green (chairman, HSBC), Sir Terry Leahy (CEO Tesco), Sir John Rose, (CEO, Rolls Royce), Sir Alan Sugar, Sir Rod Eddington (director, News Corporation), Sir William Castell (chair, Wellcome Trust), Dr Jean Pierre Garnier: (CEO, Glaxo SmithKline), Sir John Parker (chair, National Grid), Stuart Rose (CEO, Marks and Spencer), Arun Sarin (CEO, Vodafone) and Dame Marjorie Scardino (CEO, Pearson).
However, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) believes the members of the committee are representatives of big business only, and has raised fears that the needs of larger companies will be at the forefront of the new Prime Minister's policy.
FPB campaigns manager, Matt Hardman, commented:
“Smaller companies make up the majority of firms in the UK private sector, employing over half the private sector workforce, and they are not represented by this Business Council.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
