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FROM THE DG EDWIN MORGAN
‘UK firms must keep pressing the politicians
for progress’ The slow advance of government- led infrastructure projects is hugely frustrating for business leaders, but we should not disengage, writes the IoD’s interim director general
A typical glacier slides downhill 1,000ft a year. Slow, yet if the UK could build infrastructure even at this rate, it would feel like a serious acceleration. A third runway at Heathrow – the airport most used by IoD members for business travel – was approved by the government last June after almost two decades of wrangling, but we don’t seem close to laying an inch of tarmac. HS2, the biggest infrastructure project the nation has attempted for 25 years, was founded in 2009, but civil construction work starts only this year. I could also point to the M4 relief road in south Wales, which is still awaiting approval at the time of writing. In the league table of politics putting infrastructure projects on ice, Northern Ireland arguably tops the lot. The lack of a functioning executive at Stormont since January 2017 has stalled £2 billion worth of projects and counting. It is easy to make unfavourable comparisons between the sub-glacial pace of transport upgrades and the lightning speed of commerce. The seemingly endless cycle of consultations, green papers, revisions, white papers and votes contrasts starkly with the daily realities our members face in making crucial decisions under extreme time pressure.
There is a risk that, faced with so much aggravation for so little headway, business
leaders may disengage from the political process and focus on playing the hand they’ve been dealt. Naturally, we would argue that they shouldn’t. It’s paramount that the voice of enterprise is heard amid the din, especially in these uncertain times. Not all business leaders see things the same way, of course, but the IoD does know that infrastructure improvements top the list of domestic priorities for its members in 2019. While the government would highlight the £6 billion a year it’s spending on infrastructure over the next few years, our members would point to all the frustrating pinch points on our road and rail networks. When it comes to transport – from decongesting the M5 to improving rail links over the Pennines – the personal is the political.
Given that members are responsible for whole enterprises and all the people they employ, your collective concerns have great economic importance. I recently met the transport secretary to raise these issues, but we need your help to keep up the pressure for essential infrastructure. I would heartily encourage every member to make your voice heard, whether you do it in your role as an IoD ambassador, at an event near you, through the monthly Policy Voice surveys or simply via an email to the policy unit. In short, your frustration is our purpose.
To contact
the IoD’s policy unit, email policy-unit@
iod.com
BEWARE OF CYBER THREATS
Some aspects of business – finding the right skills, for instance – are eternal. Others have emerged more recently and are the result of societal or technological changes requiring a whole new set of skills. Cyber risk is a case in point. There are signs that awareness outstrips preparedness in this field. A 2017 IoD survey found that, while 95 per cent of employers deemed cyber security important to their business, almost half had no formal strategy addressing the issue. Perhaps more worryingly, 40 per cent said that they wouldn’t know whom to notify if an attack were to strike. That situation may well have improved over the past 18 months, given that firms now have a duty under GDPR to report significant breaches. It would be
understandable if cyber security, amid a host of competing priorities, were to fall down the to-do list for SMEs. But, as big data becomes more integral to business plans across a wide range of sectors, there’s a risk that this issue could become an Achilles’ heel for some
otherwise robust firms. Edwin Morgan is the IoD’s interim Director General. To have your say, visit
iod.com/policyvoice. Follow the institute on Twitter at @The_IoD
director.co.uk 13
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