Recession warning flashes after ‘gloomy’ UK manufacturing data August 22, 2023 Recession concerns intensified today after new data showed manufacturing output fell at its fastest pace since September 2020 in July. According to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) industrial trends survey, the balance of factories reporting a rise in output versus a fall slumped to -19 per cent, compared to plus three per cent in [...]
Barriers to business require urgent action from government June 21, 2023 Per the business secretary, Britain’s trade problem is that we don’t think we can. Apparently our ‘sardonic’ sense of humour holds us back from sailing the seven seas like mercantile Brits of old. Even by the standards of recent years, it’s an absurd statement. It sums up a wider dereliction of duty in Westminster towards [...]
CBI: New boss Rain Newton-Smith refuses to budge on membership figures before exodus June 13, 2023 The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is still insisting on keeping its prior membership figures under wraps in the wake of a scandal which saw it face a fight for its very future. CBI director-general Rain Newton-Smith refused to disclose the number of members her organisation had boasted prior to a sexual harassment crisis which [...]
The Notebook: Globalisation, vertical farming and indy cafes June 8, 2023 The Notebook is where interesting people say interesting things. Today it’s Edwin Morgan from vertical farmers Harvest London. Globalisation, as we once knew it, is dead”, the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves boldly proclaimed to an audience in Washington last week. The speech was as much about keeping Labour in the news as it was a [...]
CBI: Rishi Sunak refuses to say business body will be back in the room June 7, 2023 The Confederation of British Industry survived a confidence vote on its future yesterday, after members voted in favour of the scandal-hit lobbying organisation’s transformation plan. However, overnight the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested that may not be enough for the body to be invited back into key meetings on business policy with the government. Matters [...]
Morning in the City: Paragon, N Brown, ABF, Zopa and the CBI’s crunch vote June 6, 2023 Welcome to the live blog on Tuesday 6 June. This morning we will be covering results including Paragon bank, N Brown, Association British Foods, and of course, the crunch vote with the Confederation of British Industry.
BP and Heathrow join new BCC business council pitched as CBI rival June 5, 2023 Top global firms have led the charge to support a new rival to the under-fire CBI lobbying organisation. Energy giant BP, power firm Drax, Heathrow Airport and international hoteliers IHG have become founding members of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) business council. The organisation is set to take on the Confederation of British Industry [...]
Ex-CBI chief Tony Danker considers suing scandal-hit lobby group over dismissal June 4, 2023 Former chief of the Confederation of British Industry is considering suing the scandal-hit lobby group after he was dismissed from the top job as the group became embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal.
Mark Kleinman dissects the CBI’s rescue plan – plus the boss of Vashi’s vanishing act and Man U’s other battle June 1, 2023 In five days time, Rain Newton-Smith must deliver the performance of her career. At an extraordinary general meeting of the CBI, she will seek to convince thousands of its members that it should survive the maelstrom which has brought it to the brink of collapse. The cards appear stacked against her. Already, the CBI’s principal [...]
‘Blind eye’: Former John Lewis boss on CBI and Tesco scandals May 24, 2023 The former boss of John Lewis has spoken out on the scandals engulfing the CBI and Tesco suggesting that senior staff may have been “turning a blind eye” to bad behaviour. Andy Street, Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, spoke at a Q&A with InHouse where he discussed issues at the lobbying group, the Confederation [...]