(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told business leaders that he is “on your side” and called for a “new partnership” with the private sector, as his Labour government tries to spur economic growth and attract investment.
“We will create the conditions for success and stability you need, so you can pursue the growth and opportunities the country needs,” Starmer told more than 150 business leaders in a reception held in the garden of 10 Downing Street, the first of his premiership. “We will make sure you have the tools you need to rebuild Britain as well as build your business,” he said, according to his office.
Wooing the business community was one of Starmer’s top priorities before the election, with Labour eager to stimulate private investment in industries such as renewable energy, artificial intelligence and technology. The new government has already announced plans aimed at boosting the economy, including reforming planning laws to make it easier to build housing and infrastructure and creating a National Wealth Fund to invest in emerging industries.
Starmer has said lifting Britain’s growth rate is a key target, and would help avoid difficult decisions on tax and spending at a time when the UK’s public finances are badly stretched. His Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who was also at the Downing Street reception, is due to give an update on the country’s fiscal position later this month before presenting her first Budget in the autumn.
“Our public finances are in the worst place since the Second World War,” Starmer said. “So we need a new partnership between the public and private sector to rebuild Britain together.”
Attendees at the reception included GSK Plc’s CEO Emma Walmsley, Nationwide Building Society boss Debbie Crosbie, Scottish Power CEO Keith Anderson and Google’s managing director for UK & Ireland, Debbie Weinstein, 10 Downing Street said in a statement.
Other attendees included BP Plc CEO Murray Auchincloss, Lloyds Banking Group Plc’s Charlie Nunn, Barclays Plc CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan, Phoenix Group Holdings Plc boss Andy Briggs, according to another person present, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Commenting on Labour’s initial plans for business, Craig Beaumont, director of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, said the government needed to go beyond simply providing “stability”.
“Just as vital is swift delivery of promises for change: planning reform, yes, but also late payments, trade and business rates,” Beaumont said, whose organization was represented at the Downing Street reception. “We need to see movement on these, and quickly.”
--With assistance from Sabah Meddings.
(Updates with more details on reception from second paragraph.)
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