The Role of Business
Building on our latest research on hope – you can find out how and why it’s on the rise here – today we are publishing our latest work looking at the contribution of businesses to the issues the public say they prioritise.
We asked what role people thought big businesses currently, and should, play in some of the big challenges facing the country. At the same time, we looked at which sectors the public would like to see more intervention in, and support for, from government.
It’s clear that the public believe the private sector has a significant responsibility in helping to tackle their priorities.
When it comes to the provision of jobs, growth, addressing climate change, education, digital safety and help with the cost of living – a high proportion of respondents said businesses have a responsibility to help to address these challenges. In areas such as defence, housing, immigration and public transport – the public believe businesses have less of a role.
Much of this is unsurprising. What is stark, however, is the perception gap between the role the public think businesses should be playing, and the role they believe companies actually play.
On the availability and security of jobs and economic growth there is a 38.5 and 32.7 percentage point gap between the perceived responsibility of businesses, versus the understanding of businesses efforts to contribute towards these challenges. The gaps across action on climate change, cost of living, education, online safety and mental health are comparatively significant.
One way of looking at this is that businesses don’t get enough credit for the fundamental role they play – as the principal generator of economic activity, growth, jobs. Or that business don’t shout about their role enough…
But we also know from our qualitative research that the public feel that businesses can play a much bigger role in dealing with the challenges we face as a country – that it’s not all down to the government to solve.
This, of course, calls for businesses to do more. But it also demonstrates the importance of businesses effectively communicating what they are already doing.
When it comes to looking at specific sectors and what steps the government should take towards them, as can be expected, a high proportion of the public think water companies should be investigated and nationalised, and energy companies regulated. People want healthcare invested in and for social media companies to be better regulated. And the public want to see more regulation of the housing and finance sectors. While a high level of the public want to see the railways nationalised, our elite audiences – those better informed with higher income and education levels – are more likely to want to see investment in rail.
In contrast, for the food and drink, hospitality, alcohol and supermarkets sectors, greater numbers felt no new measures were needed by government.
In general, there is clear appetite among the public for the government to increase intervention across a lot of sectors. Whether that be through investigation, nationalisation, regulation or taxation. When looking at sector intervention among Labour voters, there is, naturally, even greater appetite. Fertile territory for a potential future Labour administration that has already identified several problem sectors.
It’s clear the public want businesses to make, and show they are making, a greater contribution in dealing with the nation’s challenges. But they also want the government to take a more interventionist role. If the next administration – faced with significant fiscal and wider constraints – wants to put more pressure on businesses to try and solve the challenges the UK faces, this sentiment gives them the ‘air cover’ to do so. Improving the understanding of the role businesses already play, and are increasingly playing, in contributing to dealing with challenges will be an important counterweight to this risk.