Badenoch to meet business groups amid CBI absence

Apr 18, 2023

Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, will this week hold her first meeting with Britain’s major business groups since the government suspended engagement with the CBI.

Sky News understands Ms Badenoch will meet the other members of the so-called B5 on Thursday.

The groups – the British Chambers of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors and Make UK – will now comprise a B4 after the CBI was frozen out of Whitehall amid the crisis over sexual misconduct at the organisation.

Brian McBride, the CBI president, reportedly told the Financial Times last week that it would be “unfair” if it was prevented from engaging with the government until a police investigation into claims of sexual harassment and rape was concluded.

If that does happen, it is likely to raise further questions about the CBI’s future given its self-styled positioning as ‘the voice of business’.

Mr McBride claimed just a handful of its members had terminated their subscriptions, although a growing number of blue-chip companies have publicly said they are reviewing their involvement with it.

The CBI board last week said it had sacked its director-general, Tony Danker, over his conduct, but has drawn criticism for appointing a long-standing executive, Rain Newton-Smith, as his successor.

It also asked Jill Ader, one of its board members, to oversee a review of its culture, governance and processes.

The second phase of an investigation by the law firm Fox Williams is reported to be preparing to report back to the CBI shortly.

An insider at one of the attending business groups confirmed the timing of the meeting with Ms Badenoch, while the Department for Business and Trade declined to comment.

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