Why Asking Regulators for Growth Ideas is Like Asking Turkeys to Plan Christmas
What Drives National Economic Growth? (Spoiler: It’s Not Asking Regulators or Career Bureaucrats for Ideas)
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Elon Musk hit a nerve this week when he declared,?“Very few companies will be willing to invest in the UK with the current administration.”?And let’s be real—it’s hard to argue with him.
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But here’s the kicker: not only is the UK drowning in red tape, but the people supposedly shaping business policy have?almost zero real-world business experience.
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Here’s a staggering fact: Of the 306 senior civil servants in the Department for Business and Trade, just ONE has a directorship listed on Companies House. That’s right—one.
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The department responsible for steering the UK’s business and trade strategy has essentially no one at the helm who has run, scaled, or even dabbled in a business themselves. Yet, they’re meant to be driving the nation’s economic growth? It’s as absurd as appointing a plumber to captain a ship because they’ve worked with water before.
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Why This Is Completely Insane
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Running a business—especially in today’s volatile climate—requires skills and insights you can’t learn from a government playbook. You have to understand cash flow, risk, competition, and the relentless pressure to innovate or die.
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So why are we relying on career bureaucrats—many of whom haven’t even worked outside the public sector—to shape policies that dictate how businesses operate? If you’ve never had to make payroll or lose sleep over an investor pitch, how can you possibly understand the challenges and opportunities entrepreneurs face?
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This lack of experience isn’t just an oversight; it’s a critical failure. Policymaking without practical knowledge isn’t just ineffective—it’s dangerous.
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A Culture of Box-Ticking
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When you look at the UK’s business policies, it’s clear they’re designed more for optics than outcomes. The endless bureaucracy, the layers of approval, and the overly cautious approach all point to one thing: a culture of box-ticking rather than bold decision-making.
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The fact that 305 out of 306 senior officials in the Department for Business and Trade have no directorship experience shows just how far removed these policymakers are from the realities of entrepreneurship and investment. It’s no wonder businesses are hesitant to invest when the people designing the rules have never played the game.
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What Real Leadership Looks Like
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If we want to reverse the UK’s economic decline, we need leaders and policymakers who?get it.
1. Inject Real-World Experience: Bring in entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders to shape business policies—not just bureaucrats.
2. Empower Risk-Takers: Slash the red tape and let innovators get to work without constant interference.
3. Build a Pro-Business Culture: Stop seeing businesses as cash cows for taxation and start treating them as partners in growth.
4. Lead by Example: If our leaders expect businesses to take risks and innovate, they need to model that mindset themselves.
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Musk’s Criticism and the Bigger Picture
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Elon Musk’s remark about the UK’s unattractive investment climate is brutal but fair. Investors are pulling back because the UK no longer feels like a place where businesses can thrive.
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And with career civil servants at the wheel—most of whom wouldn’t recognize a balance sheet if it hit them in the face—it’s easy to see why. Policymakers don’t need to be entrepreneurs, but they?do?need to understand what makes businesses tick. Right now, that understanding is non-existent.
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Time to Wake Up
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This isn’t a rant—it’s a warning. The UK can’t afford to keep operating like this. If we don’t bring real-world experience into the policy process and start treating businesses as partners rather than problems to be managed, we’ll lose our competitive edge entirely.
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Over to You:
Does it surprise you that only one senior official in the Department for Business and Trade has directorship experience? How can we expect better outcomes with such a glaring lack of expertise?
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Let’s talk about what needs to change—before it’s too late.
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#EconomicGrowth #UKBusiness #PolicyFail #ElonMusk #Entrepreneurship #LeadershipCrisis #Innovation #RegulationReform #BusinessExperience #Investment
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1 个月Thank you so much Paul Luen for the very valuable article. The fact that only one senior official in the Department for Business and Trade has directorship experience is shocking. Businesses need agility, innovation, and bold decisions, not red tape and box-ticking. To foster growth, the UK and other countries must bring entrepreneurs and risk-takers into policy-making, simplify regulations, and build a culture that values businesses as partners, not problems. Happy I found your article, will read more!
Managing Director - Eyeup Aerial Solutions - Providing OSC-backed aerial imaging throughout Surrey and the Southeast and helping other operators do the same.
1 个月“Growth” to the CAA, certainly in the RPAS Sector, appears to mean “make our departments larger. Don’t worry, we can find more documents to write to fill the hours and the operators will pay”. It certainly grows their revenue.
Technical Founder / CTO / Chief DevOps Officer at NHS Wales. All views expressed here are my own and do not represent those of DHCW or NHS Wales
1 个月We need less regulation, not more - or at least smarter and more relevant regulation instead of blind bureaucracy. Are we supposed to expect that regulators will give up their jobs for the greater good?
Driven by innovation and exploration: From pioneering hydrogen technology and carbon nanotubes at Q Flo to my passion for motorsports. Focused on growth, success, and pushing boundaries across industries
1 个月Certainly agree with you points and the actions that would massively improve the situation - none of which involve increasing the role of regulators! Right now, I don't think taxation is the biggest single issue (although it is an issue), but rather its culture and over regulation. Creating an environment that encourages success (and accepts mistakes - which is equally important) and stripping away petty regulation would make a huge difference.