BT chief executive Allison Kirkby and Ella’s Kitchen founder Paul Lindley are among the government’s appointments to the newly revamped board of trade.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has unveiled the new expert panel, which will aim to advocate for their sectors and help businesses, including the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), boost their exports and drive economic growth.
It also includes Apprentice advisor and entrepreneur Mike Soutar and Michelle Ovens, the founder of Small Business Britain, as well as Lindley, who has backed Labour’s workers rights package.
Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: ”Small businesses are the driving force of our economy, both at a local and national level… we’re determined to ensure that all SMEs have the tools at their disposal to thrive.
“The new board of trade will be another tool in our arsenal to get more businesses trading around the world and taking advantage of our fantastic free trade agreements (FTAs).
“This won’t be a chin-stroking talking shop, because I’ll be urging them to boost exports and get more SMEs trading across all their sectors.”
Ovens said she was “thrilled to be appointed” and cited “the opportunities small businesses have to export and expand [and] the great growth and ambition we can open up”.
She added: “Almost all businesses in the UK are small businesses, employing millions and creating and supporting communities. Work to support their growth supports us all.”
SME support
While Soutar said: “I’m passionate about helping businesses – particularly fast-growth SMEs – to seize international opportunities.
“The UK has world-class talent, and turning that potential into globally competitive businesses requires the right networks.”
The news comes as the government launched a new call for evidence on the support SMEs need to better access finance, which is a barrier to growth, looking at current demand, private sector measures to boost funding, and obstacles for hard-to-reach groups.
Reynolds attended a small business summit, at Wilton Park, on Thursday, convening firms, trade bodies and the government to inform the SME strategy, to be published later this year.
The three-day event is also being attended by Exeat’s Laura Ward MBE, Creative Nature’s Julianne Ponan MBE and Burren Balsamics’s Bob McDonald, with discussion topics including entrepreneurship, digital technologies, business support, finance, and exporting.
The full list of board of trade advisers is: Omar Ali, Mike Hawes OBE, Dame Vivian Hunt DBE, Allison Kirkby, Paul Lindley OBE, Catherine McGuinness CBE, Michelle Ovens CBE, Mike Soutar, Sarah Walker, and Dr Charles Woodburn CBE.