Brent Hoberman: Fear of ‘media onslaught’ puts business people off joining government
Serial entrepreneur Brent Hoberman and the investment minister Poppy Gustaffson have warned that business people are put off taking on government positions due to fear of a “media onslaught”.
Writing on LinkedIn, Hoberman, the founder of Lastminute.com and failed furniture retailer Made.com, criticised coverage of business people entering government and claimed the media constantly “insinuates negative motives”.
“We know from public information that others have declined UK gov roles due to the obligation to give up all commercial interests. How many skilled people do we stop going into government when we expect them to give up everything for much less financial reward and a media onslaught?,” he said.
His comments came in response to an article in the Financial Times which revealed that Varun Chandra – the Prime Minister’s chief business aide – will continue to receive dividends from a stake he holds in Hakluyt, a corporate advisory firm.
The report said Chandra had only divested a quarter of his stake in Hakluyt since joining the government back in July.
Allies of Chandra cited in the article said the share sale was phased so that Hackluyt could avoid potential liquidity problems. Chandra’s stake in Hackluyt stood at five per cent back in July.
“He is entitled to receive reduced dividends until the buyback of his shares is complete — but he no longer has any voting rights or decision-making role in the firm,” the firm said in a statement.
Hoberman suggested the article assumed a “conflict of interest” between Chandra’s government post and his continued stake in Hackluyt.
“Sometimes we can assume that people do these jobs to help the country not to try and find some sly insider deal,” he said.
In response to Hoberman’s post, Poppy Gustafsson, former Darktrace CEO and investment minister in Starmer’s cabinet, agreed that more business people should be encouraged to work in the public sector.
“Anyone in leadership knows that a little bit of encouragement goes a long way. Unfortunately the same is true for the opposite,” she said.
“I for one would welcome more business people into government. You can have a real impact and your experience will be welcomed,” Gustafsson added.
The comments come amid allegations that the government does not understand the business community, with relatively few members of the Cabinet having had experience in the private sector compared to previous governments.