'In the thick of it' - Outgoing CBI President & Cobra Beer boss Lord Bilimoria shares his lessons on dealing with crises one after another

Crossbench peer shares his views on two tumultuous years as CBI President

Entrepreneur, crossbench peer, university chancellor and outgoing CBI President Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE, DL, will today (1800hrs) outline how an email exchange with a Harvard professor just days into the COVID crisis has guided his actions since.

The story is one of many to feature in Lord Bilimoria’s keynote lecture at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, titled ‘In the thick of it’.

Speaking amid an invited audience of business leaders and students, he will share lessons from his tenure as CBI President, which began in June 2020. The following two years covered the implementation of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the global pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In particular, he will highlight how business has acted as a force for good by during the pandemic, and rallying round in the immediate aftermath of conflict commencing.

He will outline how the CBI consistently brings forward solutions as part of its role as a critical friend towards government. “Business identified problems, outlined solutions and then demanded rapid action.”

Lord Bilimoria’s priorities when he became CBI President included championing workplace diversity. He founded the fantastically successful Change the Race Ratio, a campaign to improve ethnic minority participation across all business. More than 100 leading businesses and organisations have signed up so far.

His other priorities looking ahead were to champion global Britain, to promote entrepreneurship, and universities and businesses working more closely together. All are addressed in these excerpts from his lecture below (register here).

Beginning his personal reflections, Lord Bilimoria is expected to say:

“It all starts with a message I received three days after the UK lockdown began.

“Professor [John] Quelch outlined his 7 Cs for how leaders can manage through a crisis: calmness, confidence, communication, collaboration, community, compassion, and cash. And I kept a sticky note with these 7Cs at my side throughout the crises of the last two years. With hindsight, he was spot on.”

Considering ‘cash’, Lord Bilimoria was instrumental in campaigning for 100% loans guaranteed by government to keep businesses afloat as they were ordered to shut their doors. Hospitality, his own industry, was hit especially hard. Since then, more than 1.6m businesses benefitted from bounce back loans.

On collaboration, Lord Bilimoria praises the ingenuity of the Chancellor in formulating the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – jointly with the TUC and CBI. He will also laud the world-leading efforts of British pharmaceutical companies in rolling out the vaccine in conjunction with the agility of the MHRA.

He will say: “The UK was a world-leader in developing and producing vaccines, in no small part because of the appointment of Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi as Covid Vaccine Deployment Minister – who did such a fantastic job. Another example of the vital importance of business, universities and government working together at speed – and internationally.”

On communication and confidence, Lord Bilimoria was among the first to call out for free, mass, rapid lateral flow testing. He adds: “I persisted. It is a trait of entrepreneurs that you never give up. Entrepreneurs are defined by one word: guts. The guts to do it in the first place and the guts to keep going when others give up.”

Moving on to community and compassion, Lord Bilimoria will explain how firms acted a force for good during COVID, and are now helping in Ukraine:

“In my industry thousands of Indian restaurants that were forced to close opened their kitchens and delivered hundreds of meals to their local hospitals.

“And, when in April and May 2021, India had its tragic Covid crisis – running out of oxygen - the CBI was approached by the Indian High Commissioner. I convened the CBI’s leading members. Together we mobilised donations of oxygen cylinders, concentrators, PPE, medicines, monetary donations and more.

“This is business as a force for good; once again following the formula of problem; solution; action. Fast-forward to February 24. When the war in Ukraine began, the CBI was mobilising the business response again.

“Not only did we support the sanctions straight away. Many of the UK’s leading firms helped without hesitation; providing monetary donations, staff secondments, cyber security support; medicines and related equipment.

“We have sent 3 million ration packs and the CBI set up and coordinated a project which has sent more than half a million food boxes – each enough to feed a person for a week.”

In contemplating how the UK can navigate a weakening economic outlook, Lord Bilimoria underscores the need for calmness, the last of Professor Quelch’s 7 Cs:

“Both firms and communities have shown remarkable resilience during my time as President, yet they are now reeling from the effects of the worst cost of living crisis in decades. We must be calm and be guided by solutions co-created with business.

“Labour shortages have combined with an energy supply crunch amid existing supply chain challenges to present an extraordinarily tough set of circumstances. Times are tough for businesses dealing with rising costs, and for people on lower incomes concerned about paying their bills and putting food on the table.

“Short-term, the government should update the shortage occupations list to relieve pressures, and add immediate flexibility to the apprenticeship levy, so firms can use those funds to access the labour and skills they need to succeed.

“Longer term, the government should make the Migration Advisory Committee independent, similar to the Low Pay Commission, so the UK’s immigration system can be more responsive to economic needs.

“One of the most important means of ensuring businesses have the skills they require is connecting schools and education to the world of work and the skills needs of the future.

On energy, Lord Bilimoria is expected to say:

“In innovation and commitment we have come far, but we must remember that decarbonisation is a transition. It is not an off-on switch.

“But make no mistake: the future is green. The future is hydrogen, including for heating. The future is small modular nuclear reactors, which can be built and installed at speed and each of which can power a city the size of Sheffield. And the future is solar power – for which we can partner with countries like India. And the future is offshore wind power – in which we are already world-leaders.

“And the green industrial revolution will create jobs. The UK now has a unique chance to become the world's first net-zero financial centre.

“It is an enormous opportunity for growth too. With business leading from the front, we are all now recognising the global economic opportunity decarbonisation can be.”

Putting forward fixes for the UK’s economic challenges, Lord Bilimoria praises the Department for International Trade for rolling over existing EU trade deals, while highlighting the need to normalise trade with our biggest and nearest trading partner.

On trade, he will say:

“The bottom line is that the outlook for UK exports remains far worse than our worldwide competitors. This has got to change.

“Government also has an integral role to play.  Against the backdrop of the rising cost of doing business and continuing supply chain pressures, easing trade flows is in everyone’s interests. And normalising relations with our biggest and nearest trading partner is an economically smart thing to do.”

On the Northern Ireland Protocol, he will say:

“Neither UK unilateral action nor EU inflexibility is helpful, introducing uncertainty amid an already weakening economic environment.

“Flexibility and compromise are needed from both sides. With political will a landing zone can and must be found – using insights from business to design durable, lasting solutions smoothing GB-NI trade flows.”

On the UK becoming an inflation nation, he will say:

"The pandemic saw huge support from monetary policy. The Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.1% and launched a big tranche of new asset purchases. But with the challenge of high inflation looming large, this is now being gradually unwound.

"Monetary policy is the right first line of defence against rampant inflation, but it can only do so much. The real nuance around growth – protecting the most vulnerable households and businesses, and securing sustainable productivity growth – is achieved largely through Government and fiscal measures."

On the need for a permanent successor to the super-deduction, he will say:

“With the scheme set to end in 2023, there is a risk business investment could tail off at a crucial time, when the OBR is projecting post-recovery economic growth levelling out at a modest 1.3-1.7%. Business investment is expected to fall in spring 2023, once the super deduction ends.

“So we're urging Government to create a permanent 100% tax deduction for capital spending in the year of expenditure, helping to sustain business investment throughout 2023.

“If the super deduction expires without a successor, the CBI forecasts the UK will remain the lowest in the G7 for business investment.”

“With less than 1% of the world’s population, we have the finest universities in the world, along with the USA. The United Kingdom claims four of the top 10 entries in the recently released QS World University Rankings for 2022 and boasts 17 top of the top 100 universities in the world, including Birmingham University, of which I am proud to be Chancellor.

“So, is it any wonder we are a world-beating research power? We created the world wide web. And we still produce 16% of the world’s leading research papers. Therefore, it is absolutely right that the UK government is increasing investment to maintain our pole position in research and innovation.

“We must not forget, however, the incredible support given to research in this country by Horizon Europe – and the importance of the international funding and collaboration it coordinates.

“The UK’s manufacturing sector is also cutting edge and world class – be it in automotive, aerospace food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, agriculture… and even beer!

“Look at our professional services, we remain a world-leading financial hub with a growing reputation for fintech expertise too. We have the world’s oldest democracy, the world’s finest lawyers, finest accountants.

“Our soft power is remarkable. Nearly 500 million people watch the BBC every week. The Premier League is broadcast into nearly a billion homes worldwide every year. And we have the Royal Family and the Queen: how fabulous it is that we have just celebrated her Platinum Jubilee. She is a true leader.

“I believe in this great country, we must do everything we can to maintain our position in a changing world, continuing to play a leading role globally – just as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has done so commendably in Ukraine.”

Concluding his lecture, Lord Bilimoria is expected to say: 

“My late father, Lt General Bilimoria, who was Commander in Chief of the Central Indian army, in charge of 350,000 troops, was a great inspiration. He said, “The true test of leadership is not in the good times but in times of adversity.”

“We have put that to the test in the last two years, be it dealing with the pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Having nearly lost my business three times – with each time being entirely different – I know that you cannot always predict crises. After all, who could have predicted the pandemic? Instead, what matters is how you respond.

“Each time I nearly lost my business was different. But each time there were three things that consistently helped me get through:

1. Having a strong brand.
2. You need loyalty and the loyalty of your team, and your family.
3. Lastly, you need integrity.

“So, in the UK we have a strong globally respected brand, we have the people and the integrity. But to step up and succeed in times of crisis also requires guts, boldness and a determination to always do the right thing.

“If we marshal those qualities, there is no end to what we can achieve. I have a vision for the UK. We are a truly great country, built on centuries of tradition and innovation after innovation.

“And we can be even greater. By having a competitive tax system. By having flexible labour markets allowing businesses to access the people they need. By investing in digital and physical infrastructure. By building the high productivity economy this country needs and deserves.

“This vision: I can see it crystal clear. A vision of the economy we can be. A vision of the country we can be. A vision of the world-leaders we all here know we can be.”