Kemi Badenoch swaps ‘dry’ policy wonks for celeb business leaders in new look Board of Trade
HANDBAG giant Anya Hindmarch has joined Britain’s prestigious Board of Trade to bang the drum for Brexit abroad.
Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch will tomorrow unveil a new team of celebrity business leaders to help the UK hit £1 trillion worth exports per year by 2030.
Ms Badenoch will swap “dry” policy wonks on the Board, first formed in the 17th century, for the likes of Ms Hindmarch, film industry tycoon Paul Golding and Universal Music chief Lucien Grange.
Only four previous members will stay on - Lord Hannan, Lord Mayor, Karen Betts and Tony Abbott.
Earlier this year the PM praised Ms Hinmarch for providing “many great birthday and Christmas presents”.
Ministers hope the new-look board will use their international "clout" to open up trade opportunities that smaller British businesses can benefit from.
Ms Badenoch told The Sun: “I’ve decided it’s time to set the Board a clear mission – to find ways to promote the UK and use their private sector clout to open doors to all sorts of businesses, big and small, working hard to grow their sales across the country.
“Rather than another dry Whitehall group, producing stats and documents that no one ever reads, this new board will be fixers.
“The new Board of Trade will help our much-loved British brands take on the world.”
Members of Britain's new look Board of Trade
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• Alderman Nicholas Lyons, Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of the City of London
• Ash Amirahmadi OBE, CEO Sofina Foods Europe
• Anya Hindmarch CBE, Managing Director
• David Meller CBE, Chair Meller Educational Trust
• Karen Betts, Chief Executive Food and Drink Federation
• Libby Hart, CEO Libby London
• Lord Daniel Hannan of Kingsclere, Writer and member of the House of Lords
• Paul Golding, Chairman and Interim CEO Pinewood Group Ltd
• Peter O’Kane, Executive Chairman Strategy International Ltd
• Ruth Chapman, Executive Managing Director Dulas
• Sir Lucian Grainge CBE, Managing Director Universal Music Group
• Vivienne Stern MBE, Chief Executive Universities UK
• Rt Hon Tony Abbott, Former Australian PM
My vision for the Board of Trade by Kemi Badenoch
THE Board of Trade has existed in one form of another since the 17th Century, but I’ve decided it’s time to set the Board a clear mission – to find ways to promote the UK and use their private sector clout to open doors to all sorts of businesses, big and small, working hard to grow their sales across the country.
As President of the Board of Trade, as well as Business and Trade Secretary, my number one job is helping British businesses sell to the world.
We’re the proud home of some of the planet’s most iconic brands. Whether it’s Emma Bridgewater dinner plates in Tokyo, Aspinal of London handbags in the Big Apple, or Harry Styles albums in Singapore you can always find Best of British on every high street you visit.
From high-street to high-end, our fashion industry also plays a major role in our economy - worth over £28 billion in 2021 according to the British Fashion Council.
And this week, we celebrate as London Fashion Week firmly cements our place as a global fashion powerhouse.
My new team of world-beating proactive advisers boasts an impressive cast list including Sir Lucien Grange CEO of Universal Music, fashion supremo Anya Hindmarsh, and Andy Bird, the former chairman of Walt Disney and now the CEO of Pearson, plus a host of others. Between them they have four CBE’s, two OBE’s and an MBE, all formally acknowledged for their tireless work in their sectors.
Their objective is simple. They have the professional expertise, the contacts and the entrepreneurial spirit to big up British trade, rip up the stuffy rulebook, and open doors to new opportunities.
Rather than another dry Whitehall group, producing stats and documents that no one ever reads, this new board will be fixers. A problem-solving board, not a report-writing board.
As we seize the immense trading opportunities post-Brexit, we need to pull our socks up and be a team of doers. We must identify the blockers of trade and shove them out of the way so order books and bank balances chime with the sound of global success.
That is how we’re going to reach my target of £1 trillion worth of UK exports a year by 2030.
The new Board of Trade will help our much-loved British brands take on the world.
That is the bright, exciting future British businesses deserve.