Business priorities for the UK government

Michael Queenan at Nephos Technologies makes a case for the business priorities that the UK’s new government should address if they are to deliver real growth in the UK

Since Labour was crowned the winning party in the UK general election on 5th July, new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has assembled his cabinet around him and began to set out priorities. As Business and Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds finds his feet and begins working on his strategy, business leaders across the UK are holding their breath and waiting to see what it will mean for them. 

Over the past few years, business owners have been on their knees. Fighting against rising costs, skills shortages, the impact of Brexit and other supply chain disruption, we desperately need support to stay afloat and grow. On a positive note, the whole premise of Labour’s manifesto was “kickstarting economic growth”. Now Keir Starmer has the keys to 10 Downing Street, we need to see a genuine plan for how the new Labour administration will achieve this. 

Here the five things that I believe business leaders now need from the incoming Labour government: 

1 Explanation of the growth strategy 

Growth within the UK has been stifled since COVID, despite best efforts to kickstart the economy again. With inflation still high, this isn’t going to be an easy task for Keir Starmer’s government either.

Business leaders need to understand what Labour actually means by ‘growth’ and how they are going to achieve it. Only then can they truly get behind the strategy.  

2 Clarify any contradictions 

Within the Labour manifesto, there seem to be a few contradictory policies. One that especially stood out was the plans for technology innovation – you can’t force through the construction of scientific laboratories and data centres, whilst implementing a new net-zero infrastructure. Constructing and utilising laboratories and data centres uses huge amounts of data and generates emissions.

You simply can’t achieve AI and Net Zero at the same time based on the energy technology and infrastructure we have. We need a long-term plan to embrace and live with AI.  

3 Don’t forget small mainstream businesses 

The death of the high street is a major problem for the ‘run of the mill’ businesses, but it is ignored in practically all political manifestos. Political parties seem more concerned with the advanced initiatives  around AI and green tech, but these don’t impact the average British business.

It is the growth of small businesses that provides economic prosperity and creates more job opportunities. It’s time that the government recognised that and provided genuine support for startups and small businesses.  

4 Provide incentives for entrepreneurs 

The UK currently has little to offer start-ups. As the world becomes increasingly globalised, British companies are doing as much, if not more, business outside of the UK than within it. And with high taxes, restricting regulations and no skills that aren’t available elsewhere, there is no solid reason why entrepreneurs would choose to establish a business here.

The government needs to make the UK a desirable place to run a business and offer incentives to entrepreneurs, such as low taxes or generous start-ups grants. Only then can we truly start to achieve growth.   

5 Formulate a plan for ensuring skills for the future 

The funnel for new skills is broken. The UK education system isn’t set up to teach young people life skills and prepare them for the future. We need to stop burying our heads in the sand about the long term impact that AI is going to have on the world. It is inevitable that a huge proportion of the jobs that we have now won’t exist in 10 years’ time. By the time today’s primary school children graduate, the jobs that they are studying for won’t be around.  

We need to set children up for their future, not a life of the past. AI can’t fix your boiler, build a house or cut your hair so we should be encouraging children into trade jobs. Otherwise, as the generation coming into adulthood today are asking “why didn’t you tell me to save or I wouldn’t be able to afford a house?”, the next generation will be asking “why didn’t you tell me there would be no jobs?”. 

The need for growth

Many in the business community have said that the chalice that Labour has inherited is poisoned – some may say we are in an even worse position than when Gordon Brown’s government left the notorious ‘there’s no money left’ note in 2010.

The strength of British people will undoubtedly see us through, but if Keir Starmer’s government can provide support and incentives for businesses, we could finally see some growth as a country again.   

Michael Queenan is CEO and Co-Founder of Nephos Technologies 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and oversnap