Author Archives: HM Government

• President of the Board of Trade Dr Liam Fox convenes the new Board of Trade today in Bristol
• first meeting attended by leaders from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• advisers from across the United Kingdom present, providing local expertise to guide the Board on trade and investment matters

Today (12 October), International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox convened a new Board of Trade to help boost exports, attract inward investors and ensure the benefits of free trade are spread equally across the country.

The new Board of Trade will bring together prominent figures from business and politics from each part of the UK, including representatives from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Advisers include Collette Roche, Chief of Staff at Manchester Airport, former President of the Board of Trade, Patricia Hewitt and Ian Curle CEO of the Edrington Group, one of Scotland’s leading premium spirits companies and produces of The Famous Grouse whisky.

Latest statistics show over the last 12 months the UK secured more foreign direct investment projects than ever before, UK exports have increased 13.1% on the previous 12 months in the year to August 2017 and the current account deficit narrowed to £101.3 billion in the year to 2017 Q2, from £113.8 billion in the year to 2016 Q2.

President of the Board of Trade, Dr Liam Fox said:

There is a world of opportunity out there for UK businesses and the Board of Trade will help identify and unlock new export markets and encourage further inward investment.

The advisers on the Board will act as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the modern businesses community to ensure the benefits of free trade are spread equally across the country.

The meeting will be held today at Bristol Robotics Lab, a collaborative partnership between the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and the University of Bristol. The lab, which brings together over 200 academics, researchers and industry practitioners, is the most comprehensive academic centre for multi-disciplinary robotics research in the UK, and is spearheading Britain’s efforts to become a world leader in modern advanced robotics.

President of the Board of Trade Dr Fox has also invited advisers from across the United Kingdom to provide local expertise and guide the Board on trade and investment matters.

The agenda of the meeting will include a Bristol Airport presentation on regional transport access, an area that will be key in the promotion of future UK exports for the whole of the UK.

The President will also invite a discussion on how the Board will promote a culture of exporting and investing across the whole of the UK and celebrate the very best of British business, already creating jobs and driving prosperity through their international outlook.

The Board of Trade will meet 4 times a year with meetings rotated around the UK guaranteeing all parts of the union have a chance to raise the issues most important to them. To ensure all voices are heard representatives from each region will be invited to the meetings.

Case Studies

England

• Cheltenham-based fragrance house Marmalade of London is celebrated success in Canada following 2 orders over the summer and anticipated sales of almost £1.4 million over the next 5 years
• murder mystery company Red Herring Games of Grimsby is opening previously unreachable markets, with Amazon US predicting orders totalling £200,000 for the next 5 years

Scotland

• Livingston-based company Highlander Outdoor secured a significant contract win with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, providing reflective foam sleeping mats for humanitarian response efforts
• Glasgow-based luxury knitwear company Green Thomas recently securing export wins in Japan, totalling 70% of the company’s order book

Wales

• Cardiff and Vale College (CAVC), one of the largest colleges in the UK, is exploring plans to open its second International Centre of Education in Hefei, China
• Welsh business Concrete Canvas is celebrating another record breaking year of exports, with 85% of turnover directly resulting from overseas sales

Northern Ireland

• Northern Ireland manufacturer, BlueMAC, has seen their annual turnover increase by 50% since embarking on their exporting journey 3 years ago, going on to secure export wins in the UAE, Australia, France and China

Further information

Membership of the Board of Trade is restricted to Privy Councillors.

The only member is:

(i) Secretary of State for Department of International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Chair)

Advisers to the Board

(i) Secretary of State for Scotland

(ii) Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

(iii) Secretary of State for Wales

England (6)

(i) Patricia Hewitt – outgoing Chair of UK India Business Council

(ii) Andrew Mills – CEO Virtualstock

(iii) Collette Roche – Chief of Staff, Manchester Airport

(iv) Marnie Millard – CEO Nichols PLC

(v) Iqbal Ahmed – Chairman, Chief Executive and Founder of Seamark Group

(vi) Edward Timpson – former Minister of State for Children and Families

Scotland (2)

(vii) Brian Wilson – former Trade Minister

(viii) Ian Curle – CEO of Edrington Group

Wales (2)

(ix) Lord Rowe-Beddoe – former Chair of Welsh Development Agency

(x) Heather Stevens – Chair and founding member of The Waterloo Foundation

Northern Ireland (1)

(i) Mark Nodder (CEO of Wrights Group)

Further information

• Contact the DIT Media and Digital Team on 0207 215 2000
• Follow us on Twitter @tradegovuk

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The government is today publishing the Clean Growth Strategy – an ambitious strategy to cut emissions while keeping costs down for consumers, creating good jobs and growing the economy. This is an important component of our modern Industrial Strategy. We are also laying our responses to the Committee on Climate Change’s 2017 Progress Report to Parliament and publishing a suite of related documents.

Clean growth can make a real difference to people’s lives, from reducing energy bills and improving air quality, to supporting new technologies and boosting earning power in high-quality jobs.

We start from a position of strength. We have already made significant progress towards our legally binding 2050 target to reduce emissions by at least 80 per cent against 1990 levels. We exceeded the target emissions reductions of our first carbon budget (2008 to 2012) by one per cent of the budget level and we project that we will outperform against our second and third budgets covering the years 2013 to 2022 by almost five per cent and four per cent respectively.

The UK is a world leader in cutting emissions while growing the economy. Provisional statistics indicate that UK emissions in 2016 were 42 per cent lower than in 1990 and 6 per cent below those in 2015. At the same time, the UK’s GDP has increased by 67 per cent since 1990 showing that a strong, growing economy can go hand in hand with reduced emissions. On a per person basis, this means that we have reduced emissions faster than any other G7 nation and led the G7 group in growth in national income over the period.

The global transition to a low carbon economy offers huge growth opportunities which the UK is well placed to take advantage of as a core element of our Industrial Strategy. Our low carbon sector already employs over 230,000 people directly and another 200,000 through supply chains. Analysis for the Committee on Climate Change estimated that the low carbon economy has the potential to grow 11 per cent per year between 2015 and 2030 – four times faster than the rest of the economy.

While we have performed strongly to date, the task ahead is significant. The Clean Growth Strategy sets out policies and proposals across the whole of the economy and the country including business, housing, transport, power, the natural environment and the public sector.

Low carbon innovation is at the heart of our approach, with over £2.5 billion of government investment from 2015 to 2021. This forms part of the largest increase in public spending on UK science, research and innovation in almost 40 years.

The Clean Growth Strategy is an important milestone in the UK’s work to cut emissions and grow the economy. But it is not the end of the process. Clean technology is developing at a rapid pace and costs are falling faster than many predicted – for example, the cost of offshore wind has halved in two years. We look forward to working with colleagues across both Houses and the Devolved Administrations, and with people and organisations across the country, to ensure the UK can continue to lead the world in clean growth.

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Just Eat plc (Just Eat) and Hungryhouse Holdings Limited (Hungryhouse) are web-based food ordering platforms in the UK. They give restaurants the opportunity to reach a wider pool of people, as well as offer consumers the convenience of choosing from a large range of takeaway providers in one place.

In the summary of provisional findings, published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today, a group of independent panel members investigating the merger has found that, on balance, it is unlikely to result in competition concerns.

The group found that Hungryhouse presently provides limited competition to Just Eat because it is much smaller in size and offers too few unique restaurants, making it increasingly difficult for Hungryhouse to attract and retain consumers.

Furthermore, it found that the industry is evolving rapidly following the entry of platforms, such as Deliveroo, UberEATS and Amazon, which also manage or facilitate delivery services on behalf of restaurants. These companies generally present a greater competitive challenge to Just Eat than Hungryhouse, and this is likely to grow as they expand.

In reaching its provisional conclusions, the group also took account of consumers’ ability to order directly from takeaway restaurants, either by telephone, through their websites or by walking in.

Martin Cave, Inquiry Chair, said:

We carefully assessed competition in this rapidly evolving industry to make sure this merger would not result in increased prices or reduced quality of offering for either restaurants or their customers. We obtained evidence from all the major industry participants and carried out surveys, with the public and restaurants, to understand how the merger could impact both types of customers.

We found that Hungryhouse was a weak competitor to Just Eat and so competition is unlikely to be substantially reduced by this merger, especially given the entry and rapid expansion of innovative suppliers in this sector.

The CMA is now asking for views on these provisional findings and will assess all the evidence before making a final decision.

All information relating to this merger inquiry can be found on the case page.

Anyone wishing to respond to the provisional findings should do so in writing, by no later than 12pm on 2 November 2017.

Please email JustEat.HungryHouse@cma.gsi.gov.uk or write to:

Notes for editors

1. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law.
2. The CMA began its initial investigation into the merger in March 2017. The CMA referred the case for in-depth investigation on 19 May 2017 and published its provisional findings on 12 October 2017.
3. Certain of the CMA’s functions in phase 2 merger inquiries are performed by independent inquiry groups chosen from the CMA’s panel members. The appointed inquiry group are the decision-makers on phase 2 inquiries.
4. The members of the inquiry group are: Professor Martin Cave (Inquiry Chair), Katherine Holmes, John Krumins and Jayne Scott.
5. The CMA’s panel members come from a variety of backgrounds, including economics, law, accountancy and/or business; the membership of an inquiry group usually reflects a mix of expertise and experience.
6. For more information on the CMA see our homepage or follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Flickr and LinkedIn and like our Facebook page. Sign up to our email alerts to receive updates on merger cases.
7. Media enquiries should be directed to press@cma.gsi.gov.uk or 020 3738 6337

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You may be thinking why am I here speaking to you today.

I’m a middle-aged man. I have 2 sons. You could easily describe me as ‘part of the patriarchy’. Why am I here today talking to you on the International Day of the Girl Child?

This is a day to think about how to tackle issues that contribute to gender inequality, and the challenges that young girls face everywhere on a daily basis.

There are 1.1 billion girls today (aged under 14) – this is a powerful constituency for shaping a sustainable world that’s better for everyone.

We all need to be invested in empowering them to reach for their dreams and build better lives for themselves and their communities. This is not just for girls and women. We all have mothers and grandmothers. We all have a female relation, and some of us have sisters and daughters.

I also come from a different culture. I was educated in the Western, Christian tradition. I studied the bible, and learnt Christian ethics and morality from the New Testament which recorded the life and wisdom of Jesus Christ.

Wisdom does not necessarily come with age. Nor does it come with gender. Nor does one religion have a monopoly on wisdom.

In preparing for today, I wanted some wisdom from local religions. I don’t have such a knowledge or understanding of the Hindu tradition, but we have just celebrated Durga Puja.

Ma Durga is the warrior goddess, who combats evil and unleashes her forces against wrong, oppression and evil. She is worshipped not just as a mother or a daughter but also as a leader and a fighter. The message is strong here that girls can be anything they want to be.

India is also the cradle of Buddhism. And in the teachings of the Buddha, there is relevant wisdom from the Dhammapada, in a text on ‘punishment’ (translation by K Kaul):

Being happy. Treating others as you would have them treat you. How can we do that? Let me talk of 3 things.

First – language. It is by our own words that we condemn ourselves.

We communicate in many different ways. We talk, and words come out of our mouth. There is the tone of what we say, the context, the facial expression when we speak, and so on.

But when we speak, someone is listening. When we transmit, someone will receive. When we express ourselves to an audience, others will be trying to make sense of what we are saying.

And what I mean with the words I use, may not have the same meaning to my listeners. Some listeners may understand, agree and identify with what I am saying, others may not. And we have a great choice of the words that we use.

In our daily lives, we all like to laugh. Life is better when you are laughing. The best medicine in life is laughter. Laughter releases good hormones that reduce stress and increase feelings of well-being and pleasure.

What if you make someone else the object of your laughter?

It perpetuates gender discrimination and inequality. We all need to make a conscious effort to put a stop this.

What can we do?

Diplomats constantly seek for reaction. We want to know what others think of our countries (by that I mean what they think of our governments). In our ordinary lives, it would be boring if we went around the whole time asking how others feel about us.

But we can ask about our words, our languages and our jokes. The best feedback is when people speak up without asking. Easily said – but what should we do?

Secondly: behind the choice of words we use, lie stereotypes.

Sexual stereotypes – such as women being the weaker sex – are rooted by the age of 14. This is the case whether you are in a rich or poor country.

From an early age the messaging that girls are vulnerable and boys are stronger and independent are being reinforced from all parts of society – parents, relatives, siblings, classmates, teachers, clergy, coaches, social media, TV and other media.

Boys are more likely to be encouraged to spend time outside of the home unsupervised. Girls tend to stay home and do chores. The role of the mother here is important – does she treat her son and daughter equally or is she finding comfort in the patriarchal hierarchy?

UN Women has set up the #HeForShe solidarity campaign for the advancement of women. Its goal is to engage men and boys as agents of change by encouraging them to take action against negative inequalities faced by women and girls.

Grounded in the idea that gender equality is an issue that affects all people — socially, economically and politically — it seeks to actively involve men and boys in a movement that was originally conceived as ‘a struggle for women by women’.

We fear being the odd one out. But we have a responsibility to speak up especially if we want to put a stop to them and change things for the better.

Finally outcomes on equality of opportunity. Let me talk about my organisation.

My parent ministry – the Foreign and Commonwealth Office – is a global institution with over 12,500 staff. As an organisation, we advocate for diversity and inclusion around the world.

A third of our staff are UK based – diplomats like me, but also staff who work only in Britain – and 2/3 local staff. Overall 43% of UK Based staff are female, and 42% LE staff are female.

Britain’s first female ambassador, was Anne Warburton, in Denmark. She was appointed in 1976. By 2008, we had 22 female Heads of Mission (Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Governor’s General, Consul Generals and Heads of Diplomatic) out of around 280.

We now have 54 female Heads of Missions around the world.

We champion the rights of women and girls around the world, and in February appointed Joanna Roper as the UK’s first ever Special Envoy for Gender Equality.

In India, we offer the Chevening Scholarships for studying for Masters in the UK. Almost exactly 50% of the scholars selected are women.

We also offer several Chevening Fellowships in different fields. 40% of the fellows selected are women. In fact almost half of the Chevening Alumni in India are women.

To return where I started, I am here speaking to you today on the International Day of the Girl Child because I am a man. I have a mother and sister and I have sons. ‘I am of woman born’.

I want to make the world a happier place. A place where everyone laughs. And where everyone can speak up and be heard.

That is why it is my role, just as much as yours, to work for gender equality.

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