In the public interest

In the Times this month I wrote that public companies deserve a more prominent role supporting the UK’s growth agenda.

The woes of Thames Water and the Bank of England’s alarm bells over the debt-laden private equity industry offer timely reminders that transparency and good governance play a vital role in building businesses.

And yet much more can be done to support today’s innovative and ambitious stocks and encourage more companies to go public. That was also the topic of discussion in our latest Growth Capital podcast, featuring guests from the digital payments leader Bango and Rigby Group.

Getting capital flowing again is vital, as I explained yesterday in a members’ roundtable with government officials and the British Business Bank, a valuable institution whose remit should be extended to catalyse much-needed liquidity among small and midcaps.

And if you want to catalyse our efforts, please consider joining the QCA here. The more supporters we have, the greater our impact.

Meanwhile, we continue to battle against needless hassle that directors face. We think the relationship with proxy advisers can be improved and we have gathered your views on them, results of which will be released soon.

And if you haven’t already, please sign up to attend our Annual Dinner on September 19 and on June 6 our Annual Conference, a half-day event which is free for members and will be bookended by observations from political opponents Lord Johnson and Lord Livermore as the election campaign nears.

Kind regards,

James Ashton,

Chief Executive, Quoted Companies Alliance