Gordon Brown and David Cameron are to present their pro-business credentials to Britain’s corporate leaders at the CBI annual conference next month.
The employers’ organisation has announced its line-up for its flagship event, to be held at the Business Design Centre in London on 27-28 November.
With the relationship between business and political parties at the top of both men’s agenda, each will be keen to speak to delegates and respond to questions at the interactive conference.
As well as hearing from the chancellor and the leader of the Conservative Party, the CBI will turn the spotlight on three areas central to business: how to meet the challenge from China and India, energy insecurity in a changing world, and globalisation and company ownership.
Keynote addresses will come from Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach of Ireland, Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and chief executive of Mittal Steel, Nikesh Arora, vice-president, European operations at Google, and Jean-Louis Beffa, chairman and chief executive of French high-tech manufacturer Saint Gobain.
Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, said: “With the help of some leading international business figures, we will be tackling the biggest issues of the day: how can we meet the challenges and opportunities of China and India, secure our future energy supplies and ask ‘should UK business be up for sale?'”