Senior figures from BP and Amazon have warned that energy policy and high energy costs are making the UK a less attractive destination for investment.
Speaking at a conference hosted by BritishAmerican Business in London, executives said the cost of power in the UK was undermining competitiveness when investment decisions are taken at headquarters level.
Iain Wood, director of digital at Amazon, said energy costs were “widely understood” to be a problem in Britain, adding that there were also issues with grid connections. BP’s UK head of country, Louise Kingham, reiterated industry concerns over the current fiscal regime for oil and gas, warning it was holding back new investment in the North Sea.
“The main barrier to bringing forward new, bigger investments in the UK oil and gas sector is the fiscal regime that we currently have,” Ms Kingham said.
Ms Kingham added that a revised tax framework was already prepared, saying a new taxation regime was “sitting on a shelf ready to go”.
The comments, reported in the Telegraph, were delivered to Varun Chandra, Sir Keir Starmer’s adviser on trade and investment, who acknowledged concerns from business leaders and admitted the Government was not “getting it all right”.
“I’d ask for a little bit of forbearance and patience, because we’re definitely not getting it all right,” he said.
Mr Chandra said the Government remained focused on economic stability, industrial policy, improving trade relationships and regulatory reform, adding: “Everyone makes missteps, but the general direction of travel is very clear.”