OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EU NEEDS TO BE RE-NEGOTIATED.

Transcript of my opinion column in The Times, April 22, 2013, regarding Business for Britain, and the need to re-negotiate our relationship with the EU.

Over the last few years the British people have become increasingly sceptical about the European Union. A clear majority no longer think that British taxpayers, farmers, small businesses or consumers are getting a good deal from Brussels.

The kneejerk response of many defenders of the existing configuration of the EU is to insist that the EU is good for British business and that any big changes to Britain’s relationship with Brussels will hurt our economic interests. I’m reminded of the late 1990s when many big business voices - although that didn't include me - poured scorn on the public’s worries about the Euro. We now know that the people were right and it took the hugely successful Business for Sterling campaign to confront groups like the CBI and make the case against UK membership of what has become the disastrous single currency project.

It’s time for British businesses to organise again and make it clear that while some business leaders are always ready to defend the EU, many of us are increasingly concerned about its direction. 500 business figures have today signed up to the Business for Britain campaign to support a renegotiation of our EU relationship and get a better deal for the people who create this nation’s jobs and wealth.

I’m one of those signatories. I've run businesses in this country for 30 years, one of which became the world's biggest privately-owned mobile telecoms business employing thousands of people, and giving me the dubious honour of becoming quite possibly Britain's biggest personal tax payer.

Many people were hopeful that the EU’s single market would bring big benefits to Britain, but while it might once have been the case that being part of the Single Market was of net benefit, the costs and overregulation from Brussels now threaten to significantly outweigh any of those benefits.

Start-up SMEs, many of whom undertake no international activity, still have to comply with the red tape that Brussels has designed for cross-border trade. That makes no sense. Some economic regulation is necessary to facilitate fair competition, but Brussels often seems to regulate for regulation’s sake. Its tendency towards a one-size-fits-all approach is making it harder for European businesses to compete with the world’s more lightly-regulated emerging economies.

Other problems loom, too.

The Financial Transaction Tax is a key example of Brussels’ detrimental thinking. If forced through with just eleven Member States' support, it risks damaging the competitiveness of the entire Single Market.

The City of London Corporation estimates the tax would add nearly £4 billion to the cost of issuing UK debt - the last thing our economy needs as it rebuilds. London is still the financial centre of the world and we need to do everything to maintain and promote that status.

Other businesses in other parts of Europe share many of the concerns of British business. They worry about the EU’s declining share of world trade and the EU’s contribution to that decline. If Britain presents sensible reforms to the economic architecture of the EU, many businesses in Germany, Spain, Poland and across the continent will encourage their governments to take those suggestions seriously.

We know that an opportunity for change is certainly coming. The EU will need to alter its Treaties to deal with the challenges posed by the still grave Eurozone crisis. As EU leaders think about fiscal union and other Treaty changes - possibly taking big steps towards federalism - we should be debating the kind of relationship we want to have with the EU. It's not about being in or out; business wants a more balanced relationship - and getting that balance right is vital for this nation’s competitiveness.

Business wants to see Brussels recognise that a diversity of economies requires far more flexibility than is currently provided for. If the EU is to thrive, with Britain in it, it needs to adapt. Tweaking reforms and paying lip-service to change have failed to address Europe’s economic woes and democratic deficit. The EU would benefit from showing it is open to decentralisation and deregulation in the areas where it would boost competitiveness. ]The ‘European project’ is always changing and evolving. In this fiercely competitive age it needs to change again. An end to a one-size-fits-all model of regulation is central to the change that is necessary. Business for Britain will be at the Prime Minister’s elbow, encouraging him to be bold in his demands for a more competitive EU. If he delivers it won’t just be Britain that will prosper. The European mainland’s record number of unemployed people will benefit, too.

John Caudwell, Entrepreneur and philanthropist.

More links:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/article3745353.ece (subscription required).
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/500-business-leaders-call-for-new-deal-in-europe-8582087.html?origin=internalSearch

http://businessforbritain.org/

http://www.cityam.com/article/britain-s-business-elite-becoming-increasingly-eurosceptic

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10008978/500-business-leaders-tell-David-Cameron-to-negotiate-a-better-deal-with-Europe.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b740e8e4-aa83-11e2-bc0d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2RAzcgEnS (subscription required).

CAUDWELL IS TITLE CHARACTER IN SKY 1 HD SERIES “THE ANGEL”

JOHN CAUDWELL

@johndcaudwell

PRESS RELEASE

January 19, 2012.

ENTREPRENEUR JOHN CAUDWELL IS TITLE CHARACTER IN SKY 1 HD SERIES “THE ANGEL”.

Photo available.

Entrepreneur John Caudwell is to be the title character in a new flagship Sky 1 HD series to be screened in the summer – The Angel.

John, who sold his mobile telecoms business for £1.5 billion in 2006, has more recently been involved in extensive charitable and philanthropic work, but in this series he goes back to his business roots by assessing entrepreneurs who will compete for £100,000 of his money in each programme.

In each of the five 60-minute shows, six contestants will be invited into the studio to compete for that investment in a bid to make their business dreams come true.

But it will not be easy: Caudwell will scrutinise their every word, thought and move.

“Business is tough and uncompromising, and that’s how I’ll be in interviewing and assessing people who are hoping to get £100,000 of my money to invest in their business,” said John.

“I’ve interviewed many would-be senior managers for my businesses, and I know from experience that with the right people on board, you can make almost anything work – but the wrong ones, with the wrong approach, wrong attitude and wrong qualities can be disastrous.

“I’ll be looking for specific and exceptional qualities – perhaps not entirely what these contestants would expect: hunger and ambition can hide in many places in somebody’s character, personality and background.”

John, from Stoke-on-Trent, transformed twenty six mobile phones worth £1,350 each into a £2 billion business. Caudwell Group – best known for the high street chain Phones4U – had by 2000 achieved an annual turnover exceeding £1billion. More recently he has provided millions of pounds worth of support through philanthropic work to projects including the Prince’s Regeneration Trust and its redevelopment of Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, as major benefactor to the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park, and to the work of the Elton John Aids Foundation amongst others – although his prime charitable interest is his own charity, Caudwell Children www.caudwellchildren.com

John says that the success of the business was mostly to do with the quality of his employees – who could have been successful in any business – although being involved in the fast-growing mobile phone market was a contributing factor.

“Success can be down to the individual and his or her qualities, and the ability to deliver against an idea rather than the idea itself – although the idea is, of course, important,” said John (Twitter @johndcaudwell).

“Bearing that in mind, the show provides a fantastic opportunity to combine analysis of business people’s abilities with an opportunity to help drive young entrepreneurial companies forward, but, best of all, it creates a vast opportunity to generate cash for charitable purposes: all profits from my investments, and all my fees, will go to my charity, Caudwell Children (@caudwellkids), which helps sick and dying – but massively inspirational – children.”

The six contestants – each carefully chosen for character, contrast and their business idea - will be put under extreme pressure throughout a series of rounds specifically designed to address John’s six golden business attributes: drive, ambition, passion, resilience, commercial intellect and leadership.

The rounds will consist of a mixture of individual tasks, head-to-heads and group challenges, and at the end of each round, after the worst performing contestants have faced a thorough grilling from John, one hopeful will be eliminated.  The last remaining entrepreneur in each programme will be awarded £100,000 of John’s own money in investment.

However, it is only after John has put his money on the table does he finally find out what he’s just invested in.

The Angel is a Twofour production for Sky 1 HD. The factual entertainment series was commissioned by Stuart Murphy and will be exec produced by Melanie Leach and Chris Brogden (Twofour) and Antonia Hurford-Jones (Sky). Sarah Caplin is consultant executive producer, and the series producer is Kate Bates.

The Angel is due to be broadcast on Sky 1 HD in the summer. To get involved visit www.sky.com/theangel.

In 2006, John Caudwell sold his 10,000-employee mobile phone business, which included Phones 4u, for £1.5bn. John now concentrates on charitable and philanthropic work including Caudwell Children @caudwellkids.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

JOHN CAUDWELL: COMMENT ON EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION CONSULTATION.

JOHN CAUDWELL

@johndcaudwell

QUOTES

November 23, 2011.

JOHN CAUDWELL: COMMENT ON EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION CONSULTATION.

Commenting on the government’s announcement that it is launching a consultation into changing employment legislation (BBC News - Unfair dismissal: Vince Cable ponders new hire-and-fire rules http://bbc.in/vRNOE2 ), John Caudwell, who created thousands of jobs in his mobile phone business, said:

“It’s a step in the right direction, but nowhere near radical enough.

“Interestingly, changing employment rules to help drive recruitment and growth was something I flagged up last week when youth unemployment figures were in the news - http://bit.ly/volZae .

“What this serves to illustrate is that the government is still behind the curve, because if people in business like me are flagging up these ideas and then government is making big announcements about similar ideas a week later, then perhaps they should be spending a great deal more time listening to UK companies who are trying to fight their way out of downturn with one hand tied behind their back.

“It’s those companies – and business people like me who have been there, done it and got the scar tissue – who know what works.”

In 2006, John Caudwell sold his 10,000-employee mobile phone business, which included Phones 4u, for £1.5bn. John now concentrates on charitable and philanthropic work including Caudwell Children @caudwellkids.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk