Today the Prime Minister will chair the first meeting of a
new Business Council established to work with government to
fuel COVID-19 economic recovery and future growth plans.
The Build Back Better Council will bring together a broad
range of business leaders from across the whole British
economy to work in partnership with the government to
unlock investment, boost job creation, promote Global
Britain and level up the whole of the UK.
The Build Back Better Council will be comprised of 30
members representing industries from retail and
hospitality, to finance, science and technology. It will be
co-chaired by the Prime Minister and Chancellor, with the
Business Secretary as a standing member, and other Cabinet
Ministers attending as required – the Trade Secretary will
join the first meeting.
At the first meeting, which will take place virtually, the
Prime Minister will update leaders on the current COVID-19
situation, including the vaccine roll-out, as well as plans
to rebuild the economy after the crisis has passed. Council
members will share their views on the economy, provide a
commercial perspective on policy and highlight obstacles
and solutions to economic recovery.
Whilst recognising that the short term will be difficult,
the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are committed to
making sure that we will be ready to kickstart our economy
as soon as we can, so vital work continues across
government on supporting job creation, improving skills,
opening up new investment, cementing the UK’s position as a
science superpower, delivering a once in a generation
investment programme in infrastructure, launching a green
industrial revolution and enabling our entrepreneurs to
scale their businesses.
The government will take this opportunity as a truly
independent country to forge our own economic and global
path and we will explore how the opportunities outside the
EU can help aid our recovery.
Prime Minister said:
We know the best way to rebuild our economy is to beat
Covid which is why we have invested billions in new
vaccines and a national testing operation so that we can
reopen the economy safely as soon as possible in the
future.
But despite this we – like many other countries – face a
huge economic challenge. And as we recover from this
crisis it won’t be enough to just go back to normal – our
promise will be to Build Back Better and level up
opportunity for people and businesses across the UK.
This Build Back Better Council will ensure that
government and businesses continue to work closely
together. It will provide an important forum for frank
feedback on our recovery plans and will help ensure the
steps we are taking are the right ones.
The Business Council will meet quarterly, but with further
meetings agreed with the Prime Minister and Chancellor if
required. Each member is appointed to the Council for a
term of 12 months.
It will complement the wide range of engagement with
businesses, business representative groups and trades
unions across the whole of Government.
List of Council members
Isabel Dedring, Arup
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty
Stephen Welton, BGF
Rachel Lord, Blackrock
Bernard Looney, BP
Sean Doyle, British Airways
Philip Jansen, BT
Poppy Gustafsson, Darktrace
Penny James, Direct Line
Ronan Harris, Google
Emma Walmsley, GSK
,
Heathrow
Mark Tucker, HSBC
Dame Carolyn McCall, ITV
Thierry Bolloré, Jaguar Land Rover
Dame , John
Lewis Partnership
Robert MacLeod, Johnson Matthey
Cressida Hogg, Landsec
Nigel Wilson, Legal & General
Vivian Hunt, McKinsey & the CBI
Ron Kalifa, Network International
Karen Jones, Prezzo
Laxman Narasimhan, Reckitt Benckiser
Liv Garfield, Severn Trent
Carl Ennis, Siemens
Martin Murphy, Syncona
Ken Murphy, Tesco
Alan Jope, Unilever
Charlotte Hogg, Visa
Sir Ian Wood, Wood
