Ahead of SME4Labour’s Summer Reception, Chamber UK sat down with Eman Martin-Vignerte, Director of Government Affairs for BoschUK, to discuss her insights on the relevance of Labour’s new policies directed at SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). The discussion centred on how policies aimed at small businesses affect larger companies like Bosch, and what Bosch would like to see moving forward.
Bosch is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In 2023, they generated €91.6 billion in revenue and employed over 400,000 people internationally. However, it is this size, Eman said, that gives them a strong connection with SMEs. As an international company, Bosch deals with a complex supply chain that stretches across the world, involving a large part of their operations purchasing goods and services from smaller SMEs.
More directly, Bosch’s strategy as a technology company includes seeking out start-ups and providing a “mentor role” to them, offering capital and sharing information. Bosch is therefore deeply involved with SMEs and has a strong understanding of government business policy more broadly.
Small Businesses
The first part of the discussion between Chamber and Bosch focused on what the government could do to support Small Businesses; “We feel that SMEs need financial support.” With the advent of Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing, Eman stated that the world may be on the brink of a fifth industrial revolution, the fourth typically describing the rapid technological innovations that followed the internet. Small start-ups are likely to be crucial for this.
Eman argued that support shouldn’t just come from companies like Bosch, but also from various levels of government. She highlighted the German model, where regional governments have historically supported promising business start-ups to boost industrial innovation. She also referred to similar policies in the UK, “We used to have the local enterprise partnership, which has now been abolished.” Going forward, she proposed a “business council” that would “encourage better market mechanisms.”
With Labour renewing the idea of ‘industrial strategy’, her proposals for government coordination with MPs seem more plausible than they have for the last fourteen years.
The Green Transition
Labour has pledged to make the UK a “clean energy superpower.” Working with private businesses, it hopes to create affordable, clean energy for UK consumers. While supportive of action on climate by successive governments, Eman asked for “clarity” from the new Labour government, calling for specifics on how emissions targets can be achieved.
To meet targets, she stated that the government would have to think about the “long-term policy landscape,” rather than just focusing on short-term emission reductions. She emphasised the need to consider the UK’s comparative advantage in the emerging green energy market. “We also need to think about what areas the UK market is in a position to lead on,” she told Chamber.
One specific proposal Eman suggested was investment in hydrogen. Proponents of ‘clean hydrogen’ argue that hydrogen offers a clean and efficient form of energy production, with water as the only emission. With ‘Great British Energy’ granting the UK greater influence over Energy Policy, the government is likely to have significantly more influence in affecting energy policy than before. Labour have floated the idea of using GB energy to build a hydrogen electrolysis system in the north sea to replace oil jobs.
Another aspect of decarbonisation that Eman mentioned was international co-operation, particularly with Europe. She told Chamber that the UK should align with the EU, both by replicating successful policies from the continent and through direct cooperation with EU consumers and companies in its role as “the biggest market” for the UK. Eman acknowledged the limits in potential co-operation on energy now that the UK has left the EU but noted that the UK is seeking greater co-operation with the EU.
Skills Training
To address concerns about worsening productivity and high migration, Labour has pledged that their skills training programme will solve both.h. Central to this is their proposed set-up of ‘Skills England,’ a body which would work with the Industrial Strategy Council and the Migration Advisory Council to identify needed skills for the British economy, encouraging migration from those with in-demand skills and training British workers in those roles.
Eman was very supportive of this policy. She stated that any attempt to improve skills among UK workers was “definitely welcomed by the industry.” She particularly emphasised the training of engineers in maths, software engineering, and hardware. These areas are particularly important to Bosch’s business model and will likely be integral to the government’s industrial policy, which pledges to “Get Britain Building Again” by constructing housing en masse and rolling out clean energy production, something the Chancellor has stated will create 50,000 jobs.
Final Thought
Eman was generally enthusiastic about the new government’s approach to the economy. However, she had several suggestions for the new Labour Government. In her closing remarks, she emphasised that both small businesses and larger companies should be involved in industrial strategy. Her wish for an industrial strategy is increasingly coming to fruition under Labour.
With increasing reliance on private investment, businesses like Bosch will be crucial to achieving Labour’s objectives in government. As the government seeks direct input from companies with its pledge of industrial strategy, the opinion of Bosch is likely to become even more salient.
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This article was written by Chamber UK’s features writer – Alex Connor.