3 May, 2020 – London: The UK’s leading entrepreneurship organisations have united in an unprecedented manner as part of an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic to establish the Business Action Council (BAC) – a coalition that will streamline the voices of more than 500,000 businesses across every sector and region within the United Kingdom.
In the wake of the Prime Minister’s call to build the biggest possible consensus from business in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the formation of the BAC marks the first occasion that business organisations have joined together at such a scale in the spirit of collective action.
The BAC’s primary mission is to act as an instrument that provides Government with a more coherent perspective from business. It is developing well-evidenced policy proposals that balance the competing demands of the wide range of businesses represented and provide expert, holistic advice to protect business resilience and restore confidence.
At a time of significant economic upheaval brought on by the spread of COVID-19, the Council brings together leaders from the most significant institutions that represent the UK’s business community to build consensus, allowing them to respond quickly and collectively to Government. Its founding members include the largest such organisations – the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Institute of Directors (IoD), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
The BAC’s work is currently informed by six specialist working groups, which are developing high-quality policy proposals and analysis to guide the Government’s response to the pandemic, which are endorsed by the entire Council. Policy proposals in five of the following areas have already been submitted to Government. The below lists all six working groups and more are being added:
The lifespan of the BAC and its working groups will be determined by the progress made on addressing the policy requirements. The BAC is chaired by Maurice Ostro OBE.