Our breakfast with Dominic Johnson and Dinesh Dhamija

We co-hosted with Finito a morning event with guest speakers Dominic Johnson, co- founder and CEO of Somerset Capital Management, as well as a former Minister of State for Regulatory Reform, and Dinesh Dhamija, founder of ebookers, former Liberal Democrat MEP and most recently author of 'The Indian Century', a compelling vision of India ‘s rise as a global powerhouse. Both speakers have great insights into the world of business and the world of politics, having been heavily involved in both, which they kindly shared with us.

Dominic Johnson spoke about the recent loss the Conservative Party had suffered at the General Election. He said that after more than a decade in government, the Conservative Party hadn ‘t managed to lower tax or regulatory burdens sufficiently.

He also felt that the Conservatives needed to take much more advantage of Britain being able to make our own trade deals and should have made more of them and better ones than we have seen over the last few years. As championed by Dominic in his former position, business remains the backbone of both the British economy and society (reinforcing the Jobs Foundation ‘s mission that business is a societal good unto itself).

Dinesh on the other hand reiterated the value of British entrepreneurism and ingenuity. He also emphasised how important trade deals are for the UK economy, citing how a trade agreement with India in particular could generate a jobs boom of 300,000 new role. One of the best ways to create growth in Britain. Dinesh also touched upon, his own journey as an entrepreneur, explaining how he saw the internet developing in the early 21st century and found ways to innovate and capture the market.

Our next breakfast will be with journalist Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall Editor of the Sunday Times and author of "Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer."