Sir Roger Carr

The notion of levelling up appeals to our sense of fairness and is a mission everyone can applaud. The government’s excellent White Paper and the wide-ranging programme of Bills announced in the Queen’s Speech are substantial developments which business can get behind. Clearly, levelling up requires government and business to work together. Companies that have weathered the pandemic have a responsibility to help our economy and support those most in need. Businesses should prioritise investment in education, skills, training and new technologies to create opportunities and drive productivity in those communities that are further behind others. Successive UK governments have attempted to redistribute the wealth and opportunities in London and major cities.

The Office for Budget Responsibility recently released a report revising its estimate of productivity growth down by 0.7 percentage points per year, reducing the potential output in 2021-2022 by 3 per cent. As a result, by 2023, the Office for National Statistics estimates that output per hour will be 27 per cent lower than the 2008 pre-crisis trend. It is important that this should not be seen as a cry of despair, but a call for action. The drivers of commercial success — innovation, cost efficiency, price competition, effective distribution and customer service — don’t change. And to achieve the key elements requires a foundation of growing productivity and accelerating exports.