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CEO Rain Newton-Smith speech at CBI AGM 2024

Thank you Rupert, and good morning everyone. 

The CBI is and always has been about you our members, and we will never forget that. 

It’s now been a year and a half since I became CEO, and just a bit less than that since we held our Emergency General Meeting here. And I remember that moment vividly.

When, after some of the toughest and most upsetting times in the CBI’s history, I presented you with a prospectus and a promise to turn the page. To renew our culture, our governance and purpose and to create a CBI for the future.

And you backed us – we didn’t know whether you would, but overwhelmingly you did and you have. And that meant we could get back to doing what we do best. 

I am so proud that we have met all the milestones we set ourselves. 

Our teams came together to co-create our values – Courage, Brilliance and Integrity in everything we do, all with respect for each other. 

We’ve refocused our mission on sustainable growth and the challenges which no company or sector body can address alone. We have a renewed approach to work in partnership with our corporate members and our vitally important trade associations, which make us a true confederation.  

None of this has been easy but we have shown ourselves to be a resilient organisation, one which acknowledges our history but leads ourselves and the nation forward. 

It was a moment of genuine pride in February this year when the Good Business Charter reaccredited us. Julian Richer said how impressed they were by the scale and depth of our work to improve our culture.

I want to thank all of my team and our people at the CBI for their hard work, diligence and tenacity over the past year. 

But mostly I want to thank you our members – particularly those who have joined our councils, committees, working groups and come to our events and powered us forward with your ideas, your dedication and your commitment. It has meant the world to all of us and to me personally, but most importantly it has changed our economy for the better. 

We, as the CBI and the voice of business, are here at a moment when the country needs us. When we need hope and confidence, to champion the UK on the global stage. When we need to help guide a Chancellor through some difficult choices. When a government is co-designing what a long-term industrial strategy should be. When we are seeing the biggest change to employment rights for a generation and where our collective aim is to deliver sustainable growth and greater prosperity. And that only comes with investment from you, our members. 

Over the past year it’s been a joy to meet with so many of you, to hear what is on your minds, the challenges you face, the opportunities you see and to deliver the change you need to succeed. I’ve captained a ship in the Port of Tyne, seen amazing research at world-leading universities, watched nuclear power being built in Somerset, been piped into a ballroom in Scotland, and had an unforgettable encounter with Spot the robotic dog.  

But the real moments of pride are when we see how we’ve changed the course of government policies and delivered lasting change in our society. 

At the Autumn budget just under a year ago, we helped to deliver a permanent change to the tax landscape to incentivise investment. This was built on the back of years of painstaking economic analysis and campaigning by the CBI. 

It required a last-minute heave over the line, working closely with Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor at the time, and advisors in Number 10 and Number 11, to give the government the confidence that the business community would support this. 

At the party conference this year, he personally thanked us for all our work on your behalf and said he couldn’t have done it without the CBI’s support. 

And we worked to ensure the Shadow Chancellor then Rachel Reeves, endorsed the policy too, on the same day, to give business certainty whatever happened in the General Election. 

Our strategy has always been how we can build consensus on the policies that matter to business. 

We also secured the biggest increase to funded childcare in decades. Not to mention more support for occupational health, to help people stay in work. And big steps forward on net zero and green growth. We’ve been a consistent strong voice across regions and nations in the UK as well, with our powerhouse regional directors working with metro mayors on local growth plans and our devolved nation directors raising the voice of business loud and proud in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh. A special mention to Nikki Patterson our East Midlands director who was a finalist for the Women of the Year awards and Ian Price, our Director for Wales who retired this year after 20 years of service to the CBI and more than that to the business community in Wales. 

Then there was the general election this year – our campaigning put us front and centre.

Your business manifesto was reflected in the new government’s manifesto – from the commitment to a competitive business tax roadmap, to the long-awaited reform of the apprenticeship levy, to new commitments to long-term R&D budgets and tech adoption. 

With well over 1000 media mentions in the run-up to the election, we had the biggest share of voice of all the business lobby groups. 

Now we have a new government, with a focus on growth who see us as the go-to voice of business. But also very real challenges. And we are there to be that critical friend to government to deliver change for the better. To hold policies up to the light and see if they stand the test.

We are in the room and raising your voice. Not only meetings with almost all of the cabinet, but at all levels in the civil service. Since the election, our teams have had over 300 meetings with government officials and stakeholders. 

And, since the election we have published groundbreaking reports on planning, trade in services, fundamental business rates reform, scaling up investment in the UK, pensions reform, and we have been part of the transition finance market review. As I did a digest for advisors in No 10 and 11 ahead of the investment summit, I have been blown away by the scale, depth and quality of what we have produced – powered by your ideas and insights. 

On the international scene too, we’ve been at the B7 in Italy, building on the UK’s leadership in proportionate AI regulation and in the energy transition, we were part of Jonny Reynolds’ first international trade mission in July, and we’ll be at COP 29 in Baku – where the international climate negotiations will change the course of history. 

We need the CBI. There’s never been so much going on, nor such an important moment for our economy and society. And we’ve never been so happy to be right in the middle of it, to have the privilege of being your voice and leading forward.

With wisdom from our past, resolute in our mission for the future. 

So I want to end by just saying thank you again for your trust and commitment. We will continue to do all we can to deliver change in our society and economy on your behalf. 

Thank you.