To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of The Industry Forum we are holding an evening reception at the House of Commons hosted by Bill Esterson MP, Shadow Minister for Business and Industry, and sponsored by Workday.

Speakers:

Rod Dowler, Executive Chair, Industry Forum (Chair)

Bill Esterson MP, Shadow Minister for Business and Industry

James Johns, Head of Corporate Affairs, Workday

Sarah Howard MBE, Chair British Chambers of Commerce

The UK has some 28 million homes most of which are notoriously energy inefficient. This means that we waste money on increasingly expensive fossil fuels and add to carbon emissions unnecessarily. While we gradually transition to renewable energy, there is, thus, an urgent need to make all our homes, not just new-build homes, more energy efficient. This roundtable will focus on how policy measures can help make our legacy housing stock more efficient. It will be led by Bill Esterson MP, Shadow Business and Industrial Strategy Minister and will include industry experts on design, retrofitting, insulation, and new materials.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shattered complacency about peace on the European continent. It has brought defence procurement to the top of the agenda as nations scramble to give urgent help to Ukraine, and also bolster their own defences. So, the Industry Forum invited Chris Evans MP, Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement, to lead a roundtable on ‘Adjusting to new defence procurement priorities,’ hosted by BAE Systems. With a background in modern History, and with Labour riding high in the polls, the shadow minister opened the meeting with industry, academic and diplomatic representatives present, saying that he was here ‘to learn and listen’. From the wide discussion which followed covering supply chain issues, interoperability, high tech procurement, protectionism, equipment standardisation and maintenance, it was clear that defence procurement is a potential minefield for the unprepared.

As the government focuses on its five core missions, it is clear that long-term problems remain in the provision of adequate housing in the UK. The volume and quality of new housing vary sharply across the country and there are problems in the rented sector, and the provision of social housing. Together, these cause serious inequality and also impact UK economic performance. Matthew Pennycook MP, Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning will lead an Industry Forum roundtable on ‘Real solutions to UK housing problems’. This meeting is kindly hosted by NHBC

To address the climate emergency, the Labour party, in its industrial strategy ‘Prosperity Through Partnership,’ has announced an ambitious mission to deliver clean power by 2030. Achieving the decarbonisation of electricity will involve a range of renewable energy sources, deploying energy storage infrastructure, and improving the grid network for smart energy collection and supply. It will also need active consumer participation, and provide many thousands of new jobs throughout the country. Bill Esterson MP, Shadow BEIS minister will discuss how this can be achieved, and some of the issues to be overcome, besides winning the next election.

Recently, Shadow Further Education and Universities Minister, Matt Western MP, led a spirited Industry Forum roundtable on whether higher education can help solve the UK productivity problem which has persisted since 2008. The meeting was hosted by Workday, the major US cloud-based people management software company, at its UK head office, in the City of London. James Johns, head of corporate affairs for Workday, welcomed the invited audience of executives, university professors and diplomats, and there was a general agreement on the large social and economic benefits of a lifelong approach to learning and skills training. In particular the UK should reverse cuts to the Sure Start programme, reform the apprenticeship levy system, learn lessons from other countries such as France and Germany and take more seriously the benefits of good qualifications and skills.