TUC claims CBI director-general Richard Lambert is “easier to deal with” than predecessor Digby Jones

CBI director-general Richard Lambert is “easier to deal with” than predecessor Digby Jones, according to arch-rival the TUC.

Sarah Veale, head of equality and employment rights at the TUC, told Personnel Today that Lambert had a better relationship with the union umbrella body than Jones.

Lambert, who spent 35 years as a journalist at the Financial Times, took over at the helm of employers’ body the CBI last year, and will speak at the TUC’s annual congress in Brighton next month.

Veale said: “We find Lambert easier to deal with than his predecessor.

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“He has a much more sophisticated approach to employment relations than Digby did, and doesn’t automatically take a default negative stance on issues.”

Jones took up a position as skills envoy for the government last December, helping to launch the Leitch skills pledge in June. He then left that job – despite admitting it was only half done – to become minister of trade promotion under new prime minister Gordon Brown.