From the Back Cover
One of the most important institutions in modern Britain is facing a crisis. In fact, the relationship between three of Britain's most important institutions is broken. When Business - which generates wealth, taxation, employment, products, services and innovations - Government - which regulates, seeks social progress and has a mandate to lead - and Society - all of us - cannot work together, it's something that should concern us all. Yet while the connection between Government and Society is often reported and analysed, the crucial relationship between Business and Society is much less understood.
Business faces a range of difficult problems: many of its own making, some that are not, and it is time that these were addressed. According to Lord Digby Jones, Business must recognise that it has a vital role to play in society and it needs to start fulfilling that role better. This book is about Business: what it means, why it matters and, more significantly, the challenges it currently faces and the solutions that it needs to adopt if it is to succeed for the benefit of us all.
In this follow-up to his widely acclaimed Fixing Britain, Lord Digby Jones turns his eye to Business, by proposing a way to salvage this often maligned word and make profit creation a socially-beneficial act. Lord Jones pulls no punches in addressing the major factors that influence, and are influenced by, Business today, including:
- Britain in a post-Brexit world
- Donald Trump's America
- The "Elephant in the Boardroom" or Executive Pay
Profit is not a dirty word. It is an agent for good if properly used. Communities, charities and every part of Society are better served when businesses, large and small, are buoyant. Fixing Business calls out to all businesses and their leaders to rise to the challenge.
Lord Digby Jones served as Director General of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry, the UK's Voice of Business) from 2000 until 2006. In2006 he became the UK Skills Envoy and in 2007 he was appointed Minister of State for UK Trade & Investment. He did not join the party of government and without ambition to progress in politics he concentrated on the business of promoting Britain across the world, traveling to 31 countries in 45 overseas visits.Born in Birmingham, Lord Jones originally joined the Royal Navy, before graduating from University College London and joining the law firm Edge & Ellison, rising from Articled Clerk to Senior Partner. In 1998 he joined KPMG as vice-chairman of corporate finance, before taking up his role at the CBI.
In 2005 he was knighted for his services to business and became Sir Digby Jones in The Queen's New Year's Honours List. In 2007 he became a life peer taking the title, Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham Kt.
Today Lord Jones sits as an active cross-bencher in the House of Lords and is an official United Kingdom Business Ambassador. He speaks regularly to business audiences both in the UK and overseas. He serves in the private sector as Chairman of the international Business Advisory Boards of HSBC and British Airways, a Corporate Ambassador for Jaguar Cars and JCB, and Chairman of Triumph Motorcycles, among a number of pair and unpaid roles.
He holds a number of charity positions, is a non-executive director of Leicester Tigers Rugby and lives with his wife Pat in Marylebone and Warwickshire.
