Sunday, February 16, 2025

Latest Posts

Export champion quits over ‘anti-business’ stance, claiming Starmer and Reeves ‘speak down the UK’


Mark Stewart, chief govt of Gloucester-based Stewart Golf, has resigned from his position as one of many authorities’s “export champions,” citing frustration with what he calls Labour’s “anti-business insurance policies” beneath Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves.

Stewart’s firm, which manufactures electrical golf buggies, exports half of its £7 million turnover to the US.

His departure comes after the speech from the chancellor on Wednesday, the place bulletins on airport expansions, up to date rules, and funding in expertise clusters have been made  to bolster the UK’s progress prospects.

Having simply returned from a visit to America, Stewart, 45, says the distinction in attitudes to enterprise couldn’t be starker. “I can’t be a part of this,” he instructed The Occasions. “Each flip, there’s one thing that makes life harder for individuals making an attempt to run small companies like mine. I don’t really feel we’re being supported or inspired even to try to be higher.”

He pointed particularly to Labour’s rhetoric as undermining British optimism, referencing the shadow chancellor’s feedback about aspiring to “American-style optimism” throughout a visit on China’s bullet prepare. “Between you and the boss [Starmer], all you’ve executed is speak down the UK,” he stated.

Stewart additionally expressed dismay at authorities plans for stricter employment rights and what he sees as punitive taxes on enterprise property handed between relations, echoing widespread disquiet amongst SMEs. “We’re good at what we do,” he stated. “I don’t wish to be worrying about day-one employment rights. I wish to be making nice golf trolleys and making an attempt to promote them.”

The entrepreneur was one in every of about 400 “export champions” appointed by the Division for Enterprise and Commerce to share insights on rising abroad gross sales. Whereas he praised the scheme’s intentions, he stated burdensome coverage measures had tipped him in direction of quitting.

Not all export champions share Stewart’s stance. Adam Sopher, co-founder of luxurious popcorn producer Joe & Seph’s, chooses to stay. “It’s higher to signify as an export champion and have some affect than not be capable to,” he stated, noting that 30 per cent of his enterprise comes from export gross sales. “The federal government can do extra to assist small corporations increase into Europe, and I’m eager to assist.”

Sopher acknowledged that rising nationwide insurance coverage contributions and elevated prices are hurting margins throughout the sector, however views the position of export champion as an opportunity to push for constructive coverage options.

A Division for Enterprise and Commerce spokesperson thanked Stewart for his work however argued that “driving financial progress is our primary mission. Britain is again, open for enterprise, and we’re centered on widening alternatives for companies to export and break into new markets.”

Stewart’s resignation, nonetheless, underscores the mounting pressure between smaller exporters and coverage choices that they really feel hamper competitiveness—at a time when the federal government is making high-profile bulletins aimed toward spurring progress. Whether or not these new initiatives can quell dissatisfaction amongst key SME figures stays to be seen.


Paul Jones

Harvard alumni and former New York Occasions journalist. Editor of Enterprise Issues for over 15 years, the UKs largest enterprise journal. I’m additionally head of Capital Enterprise Media’s automotive division working for purchasers similar to Purple Bull Racing, Honda, Aston Martin and Infiniti.



Latest Posts

Stay in touch

To be updated with all the latest news, offers and special announcements.