Theresa May’s #My100Days challenge: Prioritise business post-Brexit

Earlier this year, I heard about a new Twitter initiative, known as the #My100Days challenge.

The campaign encouraged everyone to think about what they could accomplish over the course of 100 days. Commitments ranged from spending more time with family and friends to getting involved in volunteering projects.

With exactly this length of time left to go until the UK leaves the EU on 29 March, it feels like our beleaguered Prime Minister is facing the mother of all #My100Days challenges.

This is especially true if you consider the current views of British business.

With Brexit just around the corner, we recently polled more than 350 business leaders from across the UK, and 85 per cent think that the government is not prioritising the needs of businesses enough in its negotiations.

Perhaps even more worryingly, after two years of fraught negotiations, multiple resignations and economic uncertainty, over half (55 per cent) of business leaders questioned feel less optimistic about leaving the EU now than they did at the time of the referendum result.

The majority of businesses we surveyed are part of what we call the UK economic engine. They are Britain’s mid-sized entrepreneurial businesses, which are often overlooked and undervalued by the government.

The UK economic engine accounts for only 0.5 per cent of all UK businesses (29,000), yet generates over one third of UK revenue (£1.3 trillion) and almost one in three private sector jobs. So why is the government not placing more emphasis on scaling up this part of the economy? And what can be done as we approach the major milestone of leaving the EU?

Let’s turn back to May’s 100 day challenge. We can all agree that she has her hands full battling eurosceptic backbenchers in her own party, trying to build consensus across parliament, and seeking wriggle room – where it exists – with the EU27.

However, there is a missing piece of the jigsaw. We would like to see the Prime Minister and her chancellor do more to ensure that the UK is ready domestically to absorb the shocks that any flavour of Brexit will bring.

A “new economy” is required which makes it easier to do business while still ensuring that public services get the funding they need and that the UK can attract the skilled people we require. And in case the government is short of ideas at the moment, here are the five steps we think could best make that happen.

First, the tax code should be simplified by, for example, aligning national insurance and income tax.

Second, we would like to see investment in smaller infrastructure projects, which generate a quick return to the economy, rather than just glitzy headline initiatives.

Third, Britain needs a concerted effort to attract skilled people to the UK. One simple step would be to reinstate the two-year post-study work visa for postgraduates in stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, to welcome these skilled individuals into our workforce.

Fourth, to tackle the UK productivity malaise, the government should further increase the annual investment allowance for expenditure on plant and machinery, to £5m for five years, encouraging productivity-

enhancing innovation.

And finally, while the government has taken many steps to address the need for patient capital, we would like it to consider how to increase pension scheme investment. Given the long-term nature of pension investment, there is an obvious fit between the needs of growth businesses seeking patient capital and the longer-term investment horizons of pension funds.

With just 100 days to go until we officially leave the EU, the Prime Minister is facing battles on multiple fronts. She has no option but to prioritise policies at home that will help the UK insulate itself from a dramatic Brexit.