Intervention and the Battle for Better Business

A critique of business support in the United Kingdom including exclusive interview with Lord Heseltine

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01: Shoots and Roots (1992)

21st June 2015 By Elliot Forte

John Major and business support“You create the world class companies. But in a thousand ways, the decisions that we take in Government can help you or hinder you. So we too are part of Britain’s competitiveness. All our policies – not just our economic policy – need to be focused on the future strength of the British economy.”
John Major. The Prime Minister. CBI Annual Dinner 1993

Despite everyone’s best efforts for the best part of half a century, the United Kingdom had fallen from third in real income per head in 1950 to tenth in Europe by the 1980s.

Even after a period of rapid growth, fuelled in part by a Government programme of privatisation and tax cuts, a grim reality was becoming part of the public consciousness (particularly in government circles). The UK still lagged significantly behind their international rivals. It was this steady economic decline that faced the re-elected Conservative Party in 1992, when a slim majority returned John Major to power.

This Chapter tracks the rise of the small firm in the late Eighties, culminating in a seismic shift in government industrial policy. The resulting Competitiveness movement opened a generation long age of intervention.

Shoots and Roots explains why Government industrial policy shifted away from large business and how small and medium sized businesses became the perceived saviour of the economy.

Filed Under: Chapter Profiles

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Chapter Profiles

01: Shoots and Roots (1992)

02: Business Link Goes National (1994)

03: A Toolkit of Competitiveness

04: Knowledge Driven Economy (1997)

05: Quality Marks (1999)

06: Whiz Kids and Failed Business People

07: A Small Business Service (2001)

08: Best in Class (2004)

09: Help Yourself

10: Localism (2005)

11: No Wrong Door (2007)

12: Recess Stress (2008)

13: Dragon’s Breath (2008)

14: Prisk End (2010-2011)

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Reception

“For many reasons, this is a valuable book, and it is an important innovation for the policy field in itself. It will remain a valuable historical resource.”

Review by Professor R Bennett MA PhD FBA. Emeritus Professor. Cambridge University

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Elliot Forte (Author)
Email: elliot.forte@businessthink.co.uk

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