After painful months of matchmaking UKTI have officially announced which ministers will be paired with whom as the trade promotion body looks to inject a litle more commerical prowess into Whitehall.
The scheme pairs top exporters and inward investors with key ministers to make sure that special companies are well looked after. So far six ministers – spread between business, energy and media departments – have been appointed abassadorial roles with 38 companies between them. Jeremy Hunt is getting Microsoft, Google and Facebook, while Vince Cable with look after manufacturer Tata and the oil giants.
The scheme is designed to give key companies a “seamless ‘one-stop’ service in their dealings with Whitehall. It would well be worth an audit in a few months time to see if Lord Green’s scheme lives up to the billing. Expect more ministers and companies to get involved in the coming months as Lord Green extends the scheme.
Business buddies, the list so far
Vince Cable
Tata, BG Group, BP, Shell
Jeremy Hunt
Facebook, Google, Microsoft, HP
Mark Prisk
Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, BMW
Lord Green
Siemens, DP World, GE, Diageo, Bombardier, EADS, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Cheung Kong, BT, Vodafone
Lord Sassoon
Eon, EDF, Iberdrola, Centrica, RWE, Scottish & Southern Energy
David Willetts
Eisai, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey