Top business group pitches Burnham for role as ‘delivery partner’
One of Britain’s top business groups is pitching itself as a delivery partner for Andy Burnham’s economic plans as the incoming Prime Minister pledges to deliver “growth in every postcode”.
The British Chambers of Commerce, which has a presence in every region of the UK and represents some 50,000 businesses, is presenting itself as a “natural” collaborator on the former Manchester Mayor’s agenda as he looks to shift power away from Westminster.
Ahead of his arrival in Downing Street, Burnham has pledged to “rewire the state” through devolution, boost youth employment and reindustrialise Britain, driven in part by a new ‘Number 10 North’.
But the British Chambers of Commerce has warned the incoming Prime Minister that he “will face the same fundamental challenge as Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves” in delivering economic growth. The group has called on Burnham to lean on its network to deliver his plans.
“We’ll be reinforcing how Chambers are a natural delivery partner for growth-focused projects ‘in every postcode’,” Kate Shoesmith, Director of Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, told City PM. “Our network is already delivering Local Skills Improvement Plans in 33 areas of England, a successful example of Chamber leadership.”
Shoesmith added that the new Prime Minister must show “that he backs business from day one”.
Burnham will inherit an economy in which business confidence and investment have cratered in recent months.
In its monthly business confidence survey, the Institute of Directors found that bosses’ economic sentiment dropped sharply in June. Company directors were also gloomier about their own businesses’ prospects and future sales, with revenue expectations dropping to the lowest level this year.
Available jobs in London also slumped five per cent in the second quarter when compared with the first three months of the year, the latest employment monitor from recruiter Morgan McKinley showed.
Separate research from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) found fewer than a quarter of firms were planning to increase the size of their workforce in the coming months, while just over one in 10 were looking to cut staff.