The Jobs Foundation team travelled the country to champion business across party conference season.
As the party conference season comes to an end, the Jobs Foundation has been at the heart of the national conversation about work, growth, and opportunity. Across the country, our team has been active on the ground, convening discussions, engaging with policymakers, and highlighting how business are the most powerful engine of getting people into employment and boosting growth.
From Liverpool to Manchester and beyond, this conference season has shown that, across parties, there is growing recognition that businesses are the real drivers of prosperity. As the country looks ahead to the Budget and the challenges of a changing economy, the Jobs Foundation’s message remains consistent: the best way to change lives is to create jobs, and the best way to create jobs is to back business.
We kicked off conference season in Birmingham for the Reform Conference, where our Research Director, Nick Tyrone, and Policy Analyst, Bertie Hawkins, were on the ground engaging with attendees, attending policy sessions, and gathering insights from Reform figures.
Heading to Liverpool for the Labour Party Conference, we hosted a packed fringe in partnership with SME4Labour on ‘How Labour can work with businesses to boost growth and Get Britain Working’.
The discussion came at a pivotal moment, just ahead of the forthcoming Sir Charlie Mayfield Review into how businesses can support more long-term sick into work. Our panel included Sir Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State for Social Security and Disability; Lee Barron MP, Chair of the Modernising Employment APPG; Douglas McWilliams, founder of the Centre for Economics and Business Research; and Georgiana Bristol, CEO of the Jobs Foundation, chaired by Jamie Booth, our Communications Director.
Sir Stephen reflected on the challenge of aligning welfare and work policy with business needs, signalling the Government’s determination to support people into sustainable employment. Georgiana was powerful underscoring the key message of our recent Ladders of Opportunity report: that it’s businesses across the country that are leading the way in supporting people from welfare into work.
Turning to Manchester for the Conservative Party Conference, our event with the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), ‘How the Conservatives can work with businesses to boost growth and Get Britain Working’, featured Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade; Alys Denby, Opinion and Features Editor at City AM; and our President, Matthew Elliott, chaired by Emma Revell of the CPS.
Excitingly, Andrew Griffith MP gave a ringing endorsement of Matthew’s upcoming book, Prosperity Through Growth as a pathway to boosting living standards and creating more jobs across the country.
The team also contributed to several other panels throughout the conference, including:
Finally, we partnered with SPL Strategies to host a private breakfast for thirty people on Skills and Growth: How to support businesses in creating a ladder of opportunity, chaired by Spencer Pitfield OBE, with remarks from Matthew Elliott and Rt Hon Rob Halfon, former Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships. This being an especially timely discussion, with both parties refining their positions on vocational training and labour market reform.
We look forward to carrying on our conversations from the various party conferences over the coming weeks and months!