UK must show ‘swagger’ to attract spending, investment minister says

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The UK’s new investment minister has called on Britain to show more “swagger”, as she attempts to follow through on Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts this week to sell the country to the world.

Poppy Gustafsson, former chief executive of British cyber security company Darktrace, will head a beefed-up Office for Investment, offering a “concierge” service to those looking to invest in Britain.

In her first interview since her appointment last week, Gustafsson told the Financial Times: “I would love to see us do more to support British business and get that swagger on the international stage.” 

Gustafsson believes that the UK corporate sector and government need to be more self-confident, arguing that Britain has developed great technologies but sometimes lacked the showmanship of foreign rivals. 

“When you’re marketing into the US you have to say ‘this is the best technology that has ever existed in the world’,” she said. “Whereas British marketing tends to be ‘terribly sorry, if you have a spare minute, would you mind possibly having a look?’”

She said the same applied to the private sector and government. “This Labour government is talking about growth. Growth is something to be celebrated.”

Gustafsson’s appointment came just days before some of the world’s biggest investors boarded their private jets to attend Monday’s global investment summit in London.

But her appointment is notable because Starmer has given her more leverage within Whitehall to corral resources from across departments in search of private sector investment into the UK.

“I think that having a PM that supports business rather than degrades business is very important for business sentiment,” Gustafsson said.

“The government wants business to succeed. I think there have historically been some narrowed eyes, and [an idea that] if business is making money, it must be taking money from someone else.” 

Starmer’s love-in with global executives at London’s Guildhall on Monday marked a big shift in tone from Boris Johnson’s infamous 2018 “f*** business” remark, an “Anglo-Saxon” phrase that Starmer alluded to during his speech to executives.

Gustafsson will head the Office for Investment but — unlike her predecessors — she will operate not just in the Department for Business and Trade but also in the Treasury. “It’s about joining the dots — being more streamlined,” she said on the fringe of the Guildhall summit.

Lord Dominic Johnson, her Tory predecessor, said this was vital. “So many decisions come from the Treasury but the Treasury doesn’t have a dynamic growth muscle.” He said Gustafsson had “a great track record and a lot of energy”.

Starmer originally tried to hire Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, head of the Global Counsel advisory group that he co-founded with Lord Peter Mandelson, but last month Wegg-Prosser turned down the chance to join the UK government.

Gustafsson stepped down from Darktrace last month ahead of the completion of its acquisition by US private equity group Thoma Bravo in a £4.3bn deal. Gustafsson, who said she was a paid-up Labour member, was named as investment minister last Thursday.

She said that under her new regime, the Office for Investment will aim to provide a “concierge” service for investors, with a hotline to the Treasury and links to 10 Downing Street. She said it would have more staff and resources.

“They’re going to know exactly where they have to go,” she said. “It would be tailored to the type of investment. It’s not a one size fits all. It’s a more personalised approach but it sits within that single framework. 

Gustafsson will join the House of Lords but — at the age of 42 — she does not rule out a return to business later in her career.

But in the short-term there is more certainty. “In my period when I was not employed I had started making my daughter’s Halloween costume by hand but now I realise I’m never going to be able to finish it,” she said.