CBI National Business Dinner 2025 - CEO Rain Newton-Smith's speech

Good evening everyone and welcome!

And a huge thank you to all of you, our members, for being here tonight and for your unwavering support.

We’ve got a brilliant night ahead – I hope you’re all excited.

So can we give a big thank-you to Lloyds Bank our sponsors, for bringing us all together here.   

We are all looking forward to hearing Rupert’s fireside chat with the Chancellor after dinner and absolutely delighted to be hosting the first female Chancellor. The campfire is warming, the marshmallows are ready. So tee up your questions.

Now I know as business leaders you are all natural optimists but the world has got, well, more complicated recently.

There are dark clouds on the global horizon but you and the UK economy are pulling ahead.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned – especially in the last two years leading the CBI – it’s that we are stronger together.

Together we create our own sunshine. Even the occasional rainbow.

As Helen Keller said – alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

Our National Business Dinner is always a moment, but tonight it’s also a big birthday.

It’s 60 years since the CBI was founded in 1965.

Back then another Labour government under Harold Wilson was also approaching its first anniversary.

The country faced low growth and a balance of payments crisis. Rising competition from Japan, Germany, the new European Economic Community. 

That Labour government, too, said there could be only one answer: a mission for growth.

And if the UK was going to rise to the challenge then business – the motor of the economy – needed a strong voice at the table.

That’s how the CBI was born.

In March 1966, the month the Beatles released Yesterday, the CBI’s first ever annual report said…

…“the future of Britain rests on the success of industry.”

“It must be dynamic, competitive and profitable to compete in an ever increasingly competitive world.”

They understood – to be secure, we had to compete.

It’s a lesson that rings true today.

When once again we face profound global uncertainty.

War in Europe.

A US President intent on inflicting tremendous economic damage not just on the US but to the rest of the world.

Through tariffs but also tax retaliation which is already having a chilling effect on investment across the globe.

A challenge to our economies and our values. One we must face together.

And we all see the true leadership and courage the Prime Minister has shown on the international stage…

…marshalling Europe in defence of Ukraine and standing up for our values.

Putting our country’s prosperity ahead of politics, negotiating trade deals with India, the EU and the US.

Through every twist and turn, and drama in trade the CBI and our members have been there.

Putting to government the needs of our economy – and your business.

Working with our sister federations in Ireland and the rest of Europe, building bridges.

Restoring the confidence and pride on the international stage that are so vital to our economy.

Because as the Prime Minister has rightly said…

…in dark times, economic security is national security.

Economic security is the backbone of our independence.

Working for that together… is the only way we thrive.

But trade deals abroad are only part of the picture.

The lion’s share – is the strength and resilience of our economy at home.

As my predecessor John Davies knew in 1966…  

…the security of our economy, rests on the success of our industry.

Because how can we be a global Britain, how can we be a secure Britain – if we are not a competitive Britain?

Unless UK business is fighting fit and backed to the hilt.

Unless all of you, who are the drivers of innovation and investment…

…can flourish.

We need a serious plan for competitiveness.

An industrial strategy that helps every business, each of you to shine.  

And we’ve learned a lesson:

If a strategy is to succeed, the voice of business, the real drivers of growth, must  be embedded from the start.

So tonight I’m proud to announce that with Lloyds Bank, the CBI are launching a national Industrial Strategy Roadshow.

To help business in every region roll up their sleeves and work with government.

To co-author the next chapter in our economic history.

The government has committed to spend £100bn of public investment on the housing, the infrastructure we need for this country to succeed.

Then just yesterday the Chancellor announced £16bn will be for our mayors to deliver the trams and trains we need to connect communities around the UK.

And look I’ve travelled around the country and spent enough time in your businesses to know how important that is.  

So on that. On the Industrial Strategy.

Business stands ready to deliver.

Because when business and government pull together – we succeed.

But to make that happen, we must be honest about what’s holding business back.

That’s our job. To speak truth to power. To be that critical friend.

When the Chancellor last joined us at our Annual Conference in November, many of you were there.

We had just learned of the government’s planned rises to National Insurance, and the National Living Wage.

Well, this April – business felt the full force of that.

We’ve run the numbers.

Business is now straining under £24 billion in extra costs per year.  

 Now, the Chancellor doesn’t have a magic money tree. As nice as that would be.

And every pound must be spent very very wisely.   Its not an easy job.

But with costs running so high, there is one issue we absolutely must tackle.

Without it, any industrial strategy, any serious plan for economic security will fall flat on its face.

Energy.

UK firms pay one of the highest electricity bills in the world.

50 per cent more than France or Germany,

Four times more than the US and Canada.

No business in this room is untouched by that.

New survey data shows over the past three years almost 90 per cent of UK firms have seen their energy bills rise – a third by more than 50 per cent.

Four in ten tell us they are cutting investment as a result.

This isn’t just a cost issue.

It’s an investment issue.

Because how can UK business compete with one hand tied behind its back – and the other straining to keep the lights on?

This is an anchor on our ambition.

A crack in our economic security.

And it must be fixed.

I know how controversial the energy transition has become in some quarters.

But this is not a choice between cheap energy and pursuing net zero. That is a false choice.

Let me be very clear: business isn’t interested in short-term politics – only long-term results.

We know the real opportunity for the UK, lies in a low carbon economy. As our CBI Economics report showed, the UK net zero economy grew 10 per cent last year while the economy as a whole stagnated. It supported 900,000 better paid, secure jobs.

If economic security is our destination, then make no mistake: affordable, reliable, low-carbon energy is the road that gets us there.

Using our own, independent, renewable resources to power our future. Free from volatile prices and hostile actors.

I know this government gets that and are looking at options.

So what we need is a serious plan alongside the industrial strategy:

…to cut energy costs…

…to manage the shift from fossil fuels…

…to boost efficiency, storage and flexibility.

This government has already shown it can put prosperity over politics on the world stage.

Well now it must do the same for energy at home.

Because this isn’t about culture wars. It’s about common sense.

Let’s be honest though: the path isn’t simple.

Bringing more renewables too fast onto the grid without storage can push electricity prices up.

And the cost of building the network is immense.

That is being felt by bill-payers across the country

But UK firms cannot carry their part of that without hitting our ability to compete.

That’s why we’re calling on government to remove policy costs from electricity bills.

Nowhere is that more urgent than our energy-intensive industries.

From metals to chemicals, these are bedrock industries.

Foundations of our economic security.

But right now they are bearing the heaviest load.

These businesses are finding it harder and harder to stay in the UK.

They can’t wait for the energy transition to finish.

They need fair prices and targeted support to decarbonise now.

Across the economy, the message is clear –

…we cannot deliver economic security – without both more renewable energy and action on energy costs.

Without putting prosperity, once again, over politics.

Sixty years from the birth of the CBI, we are at another turning point.

The world has changed, but one truth endures.

The security of our economy rests on the success of our industry.

Rests on all of us pulling together.

Living up to our international leadership and values.

Creating a resilient, a renewable, a prosperous economy.

And that starts with you – the leaders gathered in this room tonight.

Just as in 1965, UK business will rise to the occasion. We will adapt. We will invest. We will lead. And we will renew hope and confidence in what this country can achieve. Together.

Thank you.