Heathrow and IHG among founder members of new business council

The airport and hotel giant have been confirmed as founder members of a new business council convened by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

The BCC said founding partners would be "uniquely placed" to shape its policymaking and influencing decisions, with their actions on the council "forming part of the organisation’s new national offer to businesses".

Other founder members include renewable energy firm Drax Group and BP.

BCC director general Shevaun Haviland and BCC president Baroness Martha Lane Fox will join a roundtable featuring a wider group of business leaders in London on Monday (5 June) to discuss the council and the BCC’s new national offer.

The BCC’s five core focuses, said Haviland, would be digital revolution; people and work; net zero; global Britain; and the high street.

“These challenges will form the backdrop to the next general election, which we know will come before the end of next year, and which everyone in Westminster is already gearing up for," said Haviland. "The voice of business needs to be heard loud and clear, and now is the right time for us to speak up.”