LCCI at the Party Conferences

With the Conservative Party conference, the last in the season, now wrapped up, we’re reflecting on a busy autumn of party conferences filled with opportunities to promote the interests of London’s business community.

Primarily, we focused on advocating for policy solutions that will maintain London’s standing as the best in the world to start or run a business, and defending against potential tax rises in the upcoming Budget.

This was done via engaging directly with senior policymakers whose decisions play a vital role in securing long-term economic stability for businesses.

A highlight for us was hosting a fringe event with Labour Together at the Labour Party conference, where we welcomed a senior bench of panellists to discuss how government can create the conditions for sustained growth, against the challenging backdrop of low productivity, rising inflation and significant debt.

Other topics that were clearly front of mind for businesses attending included:

• The critical importance of developing skills among young people to develop a strong pipeline of talent.
• The need for improved connectivity and infrastructure investment, especially in cities such as Leeds, to reflect a broader national approach to infrastructure planning.
• The importance of a more empowered and better-resourced regulator capable of coordinating national efforts to combat fraud and financial crime.
• The key role employers and training providers play in creating opportunities to broaden young people’s social capital and access to employment, particularly amongst NEETs.
• Businesses are deeply concerned about the upcoming November Budget and the impact of potential tax increases on their ability to remain profitable in the long term.

We look forward to taking forward the conversations had at conference to help deliver policy in favour of London businesses.