Addressing the British Chambers of Commerce Annual Conference last week (8th March), Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the BCC, reminded the government that the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the UK business community, and country, are not related to exiting the EU, but to the fundamentals in the domestic environment.
In his keynote speech to the Conference in the QEII Centre Westminster, Dr Marshall called on the government not to let Brexit overshadow all the issues in the domestic environment that need urgent attention to boost confidence, improve productivity and create jobs.
To equip the country for future success, Dr Marshall stressed that the fundamentals must be fixed first, including funding repairs on local roads, improving capacity of railways and airports, building more houses, ridding the UK of mobile phone ‘not-spots’, stabilising the training and apprenticeship systems, and delivering a clear and easy-to-use immigration system.
He also called for a bigger, more optimistic vision for the future of the UK, a national sense of mission to unite the efforts of business, government and the public at large with a real sense of purpose, saying:
“There is a real hunger coming from businesses across the UK for real leadership and vision. Businesses want to see a radical, optimistic vision for the future of the UK. The reason is simple: they want something to get behind. A national sense of mission that unites the efforts of business, government and the public at large with a real sense of purpose.
“There are those who would argue that Brexit is that mission, but they have entirely missed the point. Brexit is a process, not an outcome. It has been allowed, by government and opposition alike, to cloud over the rudderlessness of recent years; a convenient excuse to plough attention and resources into a process of disconnection, rather than to take the far harder step of re-imagining Britain for the future and then marshalling all available brainpower, management capacity and financial resources into making it happen.”
St Helens Chamber represents Members’ interests locally and nationally through the accredited Chamber network.
To find out more email tracy.mawson@sthelenschamber.com or call 01744 742020.
