CBI launches services trade taskforce report - September 2024

This evening (Tuesday 17 September) the CBI is launching a new report on services trade – Serving Up Success - which sets out how government and business can partner together on the UK’s services economy to deliver sustainable growth and take full advantage of new industrial and trade strategies on the horizon.

The CBI brought together a host of companies representing some of the top names in the UK and global services industry – including IBM, Marsh McLennan, the Professional & Business Services Council, UK Finance and the Advertising Association - to form its Services Trade Taskforce.

At the CBI’s summer reception, which includes hundreds of guests from across the City of London, leading CEOs, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, CEO Rain Newton-Smith will formally launch the report’s findings.

In her opening remarks, Newton-Smith will highlight why the UK’s services industries are a global success story:

“Across the UK, they accounted for over 80% of GVA and over four-fifths of employment in Q2 of this year alone. And that value is only growing – the UK has more than doubled its service exports since 2016... Intertwined with and enabling our trade in goods, services are the quiet power behind the UK economy. But if we’re going to truly go for growth, we have to get loud about them.

“And if the phrase industrial strategy – which we’ve been pressing the new government for – makes you think of the 1970s, hard hats and overalls, let me be very clear, what we need is a modern, international industrial strategy, for the UK of 2024, that puts our services sector front and centre. A strategy that’s just as much hard drives as hard hats. That complements a new global trade strategy and turns up the volume for UK services around the world.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m delighted to be back at the CBI’s summer reception to celebrate the business leaders in our capital driving innovation and economic growth, and to reflect on how together we can go even further in making London the best city in the world to do business. 

“In recent years, London has established itself as one of the most influential tech and finance hubs on the planet and a leading centre for green investment and innovation. This new report today sets out the importance of businesses and the Government working together to help grow our economy. As Mayor, I’m committed to working with business leaders and the new Government to unlock London’s full potential as a global economic powerhouse - starting with the regeneration, pedestrianisation and transformation of Oxford Street to attract more visitors, boost business and drive economic growth.”

The taskforce sets out recommendations for the government which can:

1. Signal intent to boost confidence

1. Unlock growth through proactive measures

1. Deliver change on the global stage

Beneath these headings, the taskforce has outlined practical actions for the government to take away:

Signal intent to boost confidence

• Communicate a clear pipeline on all agreements, from Free Trade Agreements to sector-specific agreements.

• Publish a new digital trade position with refreshed areas of focus reflective of our evolving digital world.

• Develop a strong trade promotion programme, ringfencing specific funding and working across departments.

Unlock growth through proactive measures

• Negotiate reciprocal mobility agreements in accordance with WTO commitments to aid intra-company transfers and short-term business travel. 

• Implement a modern, flexible and digitalised immigration system which can respond quickly to the needs of business. 

• Deliver clear paths for Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications with relevant jurisdictions. 

• Commit to better utilising the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s specialised committees to foster greater regulatory cooperation. 

• Create mechanisms through which regulators can work with their counterparts to address barriers to trade, including in emerging sectors. 

• Set up a one-stop shop for services companies to interpret bilateral and multilateral agreements.

Deliver change on the global stage

• Pursue the removal of barriers to international data transfers with like-minded countries and trading blocs.

• Outline basic principles for regulation of new and emerging technologies as they become increasingly regulated across the globe. 

• Work with business and allies to find a permanent, evidence-based solution to the WTO’s ‘e-commerce moratorium’.

Rain Newton-Smith will go on to tell guests: 

“It's vital government works with and listens to business. And today we’re launching a report on how exactly government can do that, using our strength in services to power trade. 

“It’s about sending a signal that we’re open for business, publishing a pipeline of the trade agreements we’re negotiating, from FTAs to sector specific deals. It’s about a new trade promotion plan, to bang the drum for services on the global stage, with ringfenced funding and working across departments. 

“It’s about making it easier for people and service companies to work across borders – with more mutual recognition of qualifications, with more reciprocal mobility agreements, more intra-company transfers, and with new mechanisms for our regulators to work with their counterparts overseas and knock down barriers.”

“Because for too long, our amazing services have been the quiet motor powering our economy. But when times get tough, you’ve got to look to your strengths, and you’ve got to get loud about them.  If we’re going to get the growth we need, for London and all regions of the UK, we’ve got start cheerleading our powerhouse services sector.”