Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Boris Johnson has poached Sky TV chief operating officer Andrew Griffith to be his interlocutor between Downing Street and the business community.
Griffith, COO of the pay-TV giant, will be the bridgehead between business and the Government with the TV executive leading a beefed-up business team out of Downing Street.
Notoriously, Johnson was overheard to say “fuck business” when he was Foreign Secretary and being confronted with business leaders’ alarm over Brexit. But in recent weeks he has been on a charm offensive in an effort to persuade corporate leaders that he will offer a pro-business, tax-cutting agenda.
Andrew Griffith is a former Conservative candidate who lent his £9.5m Westminster townhouse to the Johnson campaign during the race for the party leadership.
Allan Leighton, chairman of Co-operative Group and former Sky board member, told the Financial Times that Griffith would be “good news for the business community”.
Small business reaction
Reacting to Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister, business associations and small business suppliers gave their wish lists for the incoming PM.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) met with Johnson and his team last week to discuss priorities for the new administration.
Among the measures the FSB would like to see