Sunak faces calls from bosses for lower taxes
Corporation tax rose from 19pc to 25pc this month for companies with profits of more than £250,000 despite warnings that it would damage economic growth.
Alexa Phillips has more on how businesses will try to persuade Rishi Sunak of the need to lower taxes at a major business event:
Alex Baldock, group chief executive of Currys, welcomed the opportunity to discuss the needs of the private sector at the Business Connect event being held by the Government, which.
He said: “It’s important that business can make its voice heard in government at events like today’s.
“Given the size of the retail sector in the UK, we’re well placed to help power the UK’s growth.
“I’m looking forward to discussing with ministers the skills, infrastructure, regulatory and tax environment we need in order to do so.”
Mr Sunak will answer "any question" from leaders and “underline his commitment to optimise the conditions for businesses to thrive and in turn, drive growth”, according to No 10.
Sunak launches business charm offensive
Rishi Sunak will attend a summit with hundreds of business leaders today as the Government tries to fill the gap left by the implosion of the Confederation of British Industry.
Personal finance reporter Alexa Phillips has the latest:
The Prime Minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will discuss ways of growing the economy at the event on Monday,
More than 200 business leaders will be in attendance at the event dubbed Business Connect, such as the chief executives of Barclays, Diageo and Currys, along with representatives from the tech, life sciences and advanced manufacturing sectors, according to No 10.
Other guests from the private sector include Dame Carolyn McCall, the ITV chief executive; Liv Garfield, CEO of Severn Trent; Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy; Adrian Mardell, boss of Jaguar Land Rover; Seb James, who runs Boots the Chemist; Claire Barclay, UK CEO of Microsoft; Gerry Murphy, the Burberry chairman; and Jon Holt, who runs KPMG UK, according to Sky News.
The summit follows mounting criticism from businesses about growing taxes and an attempt from Labour to reposition itself as the new party of business.
Good morning
Rishi Sunak will attend a summit with hundreds of business leaders amid the turmoil at the CBI and to launch a new charm offensive as he faces demands for lower taxes.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will discuss ways of growing the economy at the event on Monday, called Business Connect.
More than 200 business leaders will be in attendance, such as the chief executives of Barclays, Diageo and Currys, along with representatives from the tech, life sciences and advanced manufacturing sectors, according to No 10.
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What happened overnight
Asian shares were mostly lower at the start of a week packed with economic data and central bank meetings, along with earnings from the tech giants that have kept the S&P 500 afloat so far this year.
Market action was sluggish in the wake of Friday's surprisingly strong surveys of business activity which reinforced the case for higher interest rates.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.4pc, while Japan's Nikkei nudged up 0.2pc. Chinese blue chips fell 0.4pc.
Over in Australia, there was some weakness in mining stocks after Chile moved to boost state control over its lithium industry, which has the world's largest reserves of the battery metal.