Confederation of British Industry

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) was formed in 1965 and it is the main business wide employers' organization. It works with the UK government, international legislators and policy-makers to pursue corporate interests. It combinined the former Federation of British Industries (founded in 1916), British Employers' Confederation, and National Association of British Manufacturers.

CBI aims

The CBI champions causes favourable to owners of British businesses.

The stated aim of the CBI is to help create and sustain the conditions in which businesses in the United Kingdom can compete and prosper for the benefit of all. To this end it lobbies the UK government and international legislators.

CBI policy is decided by its members, senior professionals from all sectors and sizes of business, who are directly involved in the policy-making process.

Membership

Approximately 80% of the FTSE 100 companies are CBI members and nearly half of the FTSE 350.

Most of its larger members and many of the medium-sized and smaller ones operate internationally.

Membership of the CBI is corporate: organisations and companies are members, not the individuals nominated to represent them.

Lobbying

The CBI is able to lobby democratically elected representitives in order to gain concessions deemed favourable to the owners of UK businesses.

Research

The CBI conducts numerous surveys and reports which are of particular use to its members. Research conducted is available to the relevant sections of its membership.

Role

The CBI is the representative body for British business as a whole. Its membership of 250,000 firms employs about half the UK's workforce.The stated objectives of the CBI are "to uphold the market system and the profit motive that sustains it." (1)

It works both proactively, in forming and pushing policies, and reactively, in trying to deflect government proposals. In fact few policies or bills are written without extensive consultation with the CBI. It has daily contact with every level of government, with civil servants, with Ministers (including the PM), and once a bill reaches Westminster with MPs1. The CBI's chief economist is a member of the independent panel of Six Wise Persons which advises the Chancellor on the Budget (2).

Structure

The internal structure of the CBI is fairly elaborate, with 21 policy committees (each having several sub-committees), from Europe to energy to education, plus 13 regional committees. It has about 300 staff (1).

The general election is obviously an important event for the CBI, and it has produced its own manifesto, Prospering in the Global Economy (3).

The CBI consistently argues for a flexible workforce, including part-time and temporary workers (4); it unsuccessfully fought the EC's Working Time Directive (alongside the government) (5); and has opposed the DTI's consultative document proposing greater employee consultation and involvement in company decisions (6). In the 5-yearly Health & Safety (H?) review by the DoE, it has attacked proposals to charge high-risk companies (such as oil extraction, chemicals) for their H? inspections (5).

In response to the EC's proposed widening of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, the CBI demanded "a clear justification in terms of environmental need and sound cost / benefit analysis" (the usual industry need for an excessively high level of certainty) (5). It has challenged the international bio-safety (biotechnology safety) protocol to the biodiversity convention, on the grounds that it could discourage R?, commit countries to over-regulation, and deprive them of discretion (6) (discretion which would allow companies to play countries off against each other and invest in whichever has the lowest standards.) It has opposed the carbon tax and emissions restrictions, preferring voluntary self-regulation by companies (I wonder why?); and supported privatisation of the nuclear industry (7).

In 1994 the CBI argued that legislation should require contaminated land to be cleaned up only enough for the planned future use; its points were included in the Framework for Contaminated Land and the Environment Bill (7).

It is currently fighting EC legislation which would empower consumer organisations to file injunctions or seek damages against dangerous companies4. It opposes Labour's proposed windfall tax on the privatised utilities (4).

The CBI report Moving Forward demands an extra £2 bn pa investment in infrastructure, attracting inward investment and stimulating regeneration, to reduce congestion and to create jobs in the construction and IT industries. It echoes the ERT's Missing Networks in the call for better links between the modes. The report calls for government to "take full account of UK companies' need to compete abroad; not increase the overall tax burden on business; and guarantee greater, more consistent investment in transport".

On Europe, the CBI wants to strengthen the single market, reshape social policy and balance environmental objectives with competitiveness. Elsewhere it supports export credit guarantees and aid-trade provision (a la Pergau Dam) to help companies to exploit developing markets (7).

It produces the monthly CBI News. The Annual Report costs £5

Organisation

Contact Details

The CBI divides the UK into 13 Regions. It also has offices in Beijing, Brussels and Washington DC. However, its main office is situated in London at Centre Point.

CBI

Centre Point

103 New Oxford Street

London

WC1A 1DU

Personnel

• Sir John Sunderland, President
• Richard Lambert, Director-General
• John Cridland, Deputy Director-General
• Susan Anderson, Director, Human Resources Policy
• Andy Scott, Director, International Competitiveness
• Ian McCafferty, Chief Economic Adviser
• Michael Roberts, Director, Business Environment
• Neil Bentley, Director, Public Services

Directors-General since 1965

• John Davies (July 30, 1965 - October 15, 1969)
• Sir Campbell Adamson (October 15, 1969 - July 2, 1976)
• Sir John Methven (July 2, 1976 - April 23, 1980) (died in office)
• Sir Terence Beckett (October 1, 1980 - March 26, 1987)
• Sir John Banham (March 26, 1987 - June 26, 1992)
• Howard Davies, (June 29, 1992 - December 31, 1995)
• Lord Adair Turner (January 1, 1995 - December 31, 1999)
• Sir Digby Jones (January 1, 2000 - June 30, 2006)
• Richard Lambert (July 1, 2006 – )

Resources

• CBI and ID Cards
• Scottish CBI

External links

• Confederation of British Industry
• Department of Trade and Industry

Further Reading

Wyn Grant, Globalisation, Big Business and the Blair Government University of Warwick, CSGR Working Paper No. 58/00. August 2000.