New business secretary Vince Cable has announced the creation of a new Business Advisory Group which he will use as ‘a sounding board’ to obtain ‘private and informal’ advice.
The group will be chaired by pension fund manager Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay. He is a Liberal Democrat peer of Cable’s and is the party’s spokesperson for Treasury and Work and Pensions.
“Tackling the challenges facing business requires new ideas from a range of experts. Economic knowledge and commercial experience are essential to developing policy and this new panel will be critical to finding new ways to move the economy forward.”
Other members of the group, all of which will remain in their occupations and will be unpaid for this undertaking, are yet to be announced. It is as yet unknown whether the group will include anyone from the manufacturing sector.
Cable has taken over from Lord Mandelson in heading up the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills bas one of four Liberal Democrats within the cabinet, as per the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition agreement.
