Britain needs the best CEOs, says CBI director-general
‘It is vital that international companies are based in the UK and if we lose them the country is the poorer,’ John Cridland tells the Sun
Politicians should not be afraid of saying that high-earning businesspeople are “welcome in the UK”, the CBI director-general, John Cridland, has told the Sun.
Read John Cridland's comments in the Sun
More from the CBI on executive pay
Speaking on the day former RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood, Mr Cridland stressed the importance of effective company leaders to the British economy.
"Britain needs successful and growing companies. It needs the best CEOs wanting to come here,” he said. "It's vital that international companies are based in the UK and if we lose them the country is the poorer."
Mr Cridland went on to respond to denials by the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, that the current RBS chief executive, Stephen Hester, was the victim of a “witch hunt” over the near-£1m bonus that he turned down this week following political pressure.
"I would urge all three political parties to recognise that people earning good money are very welcome in the UK. The last person I remember saying that was Tony Blair," the CBI chief added.
"Gordon Brown was the one who said in 2008 that if civil servants were left in charge of RBS it could become a basket case."
Mr Cridland also claimed that Mr Hester’s head had been "put on a spike" in the row over executive pay, and went on to say: "I'm saddened by what's happened.
"We've seen a vilification of someone trying to do the decent thing, trying to do a good job. And for that their head ends up on a spike.
"There is no question that rewards for failure, millions for mediocrity, are wrong. But we seem to have lost focus on the flipside — that it is acceptable to pay for performance."
Mr Cridland’s comments to the Sun follow an opinion piece in yesterday’s Times in which the CBI president, Sir Roger Carr, defended the payment of large bonuses to successful business leaders.