The IPT Blog

The IPT Blog is a forum for the Trust and its supporters (business people, parliamentarians and other stakeholders) to share their experiences and views. While the IPT encourages full, open and frank discussion: all views expressed on the IPT blog are those of the individual posting the message and not the IPT. The Trust operates a non-discriminatory, non-partisan and non-lobbying policy. Any offensive or inaccurate posts will be subject to editing or removal.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Speaker's ReceptionThe Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons last night (15th May) hosted a reception for the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) at Speaker’s House to mark its 35th anniversary.

The Speaker is pictured with Terry Last (Tarmac), David Oliver (Kraft Foods), Bob Keen (BAE Systems), Tony Ginty (Marks & Spencer), Mike Huggan (BOC) and Susan Tyzack (BOC).
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, May 10, 2012
This IPT Policy Event discussed the role of social media in geo-politics, as well as the opportunity to use these tools for more effective and responsive action in emergencies and natural disasters. Andrew Darby reflects on some of the issues raised, including national and commercial security, the role of governments and state authorities and the impact of social media on the forthcoming Olympic Games.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Friday, April 27, 2012
Amanda Groom, Creative Director, The Strand Media Consultancy blogs on the recent IPT Policy Event discussing Professor Hargreaves Report on Intellectual Property.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Mark McConway, Business Analyst at Close Brothers makes the case for international co-operation in banking regulation as he reflects on the IPT's recent Policy Event, 'Building the New Financial Architecture'
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, March 01, 2012
Martin Moore, Centre for the History of Medicine, University of Warwick reports on the IPT Policy Event, 'Life Sciences, Innovation and Growth'.

Download a PDF version of the report here. 
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sara Kelly, Policy and Development Manager at The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) blogs on the IPT's recent Policy Event, 'Why do Silicon Valley Firms Grow So Fast?'
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Monday, February 27, 2012
The IPT welcomes 12 new supporting organisations in the first quarter of 2012.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, February 01, 2012
MPs at MorrisonsLast week (26 January) the IPT took a cross-party group of 12 parliamentarians to Morrisons' leading manufacturing facilities in Bradford and Leeds.  
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Daniel Schraibman, South Hook Gas Company adds his thoughts on the IPT's Policy Event, 'A Strategy for Energy in the UK' which took place on 18 January.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Amanda Groom, Creative Director at Strand Media Consultancy reflects on the IPT's 'Privacy and Piracy on the Internet' Policy Event and the Hargreaves Report proposals.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Friday, December 02, 2011
Nicky Morgan MP Nicky Morgan, Conservative MP for Loughborough, has visited Thales UK’s flagship sites in Crawley and Glasgow to kick off her Fellowship with the Industry & Parliament Trust (IPT). Nicky's learning objectives for undertaking an IPT Fellowship is to look at skills and access to finance for both small and large manufacturing companies.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Image Courtesy of IPTLast night The Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) held a dinner in Speaker’s House. The event was hosted by the Rt. Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons and was attended by the senior executives of the supporters of the IPT, as well as supporting parliamentarians.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, November 09, 2011
The Industry and Parliament Trust recently hosted a breakfast examing the issue of skills. The IPT's Talal Rajab considers the benefits of fostering a closer relationship between higher education and industry.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Monday, November 07, 2011
The Industry and Parliament Trust recently hosted a policy breakfast examining the economic, political and cultural issues facing UK business in the context of continued growth in China.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Monday, November 07, 2011
Simon Collinson, Professor of International Business and Innovation, Henley Business School, University of Reading and Guangbiao Chair Professor, School of Management, Zhejiang University gave the lead presentation at the IPT's policy breakfast on 'How can British business benefit from China's economic growth?'
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Gareth Owen reflects on the IPT's policy breakfast looking at whether sufficient credit is being given to SMEs and what might be done to best support SMEs in these difficult times.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, November 01, 2011
The Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) is pleased to announce Lord Speaker, The Rt. Hon Baroness D’Souza CMG as a President of the IPT. 
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The IPT last week took a cross-party group of MPs to Rolls-Royce's principal UK facility in Derby as part of the Made in Britain programme.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Andrew Bingham MP begins new Fellowship exploring the aggregates and quarrying sector.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Saturday, July 16, 2011
Laurence Robertson MP reviews the IPT's Finance and the City programme. 

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, July 05, 2011
With the Bribery Act coming into force on the 1st July, the Industry and Parliament Trust hosted a Policy Breakfast to discuss the implementation of this pioneering piece of legislation and assess its impact on UK plc.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
On the 29th June the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) hosted a breakfast with parliamentarians and leading entrepreneurs discussing entrepreneurialism in the UK.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, June 23, 2011
Yesterday the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) hosted a Policy Breakfast that discussed capitalism and the differing forces which shape our economy and society. Representatives from UK business and Parliament debated the different models employed in the UK economy and future-gazed on UK business.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Industry and Parliament Trust hosted a dinner in the House of Commons discussing the UK manufacturing industry. A cross-party group of MPs were offered an analysis of the UK manufacturing by guest speaker, the Today programme's Evan Davis.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The IPT is pleased to announce the appointment of Nick Maher to the role of CEO.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The Industry Parliament Trust has been on my radar ever since I joined the House of Lords in 2000, and I promised myself that as soon as I could find the time, I would enrol in a Fellowship programme. It was over a decade before that happened, but finally, in the Autumn of 2010, I felt that I had time to commit to it. That left the small question of the subject matter – whether to go with a field in which I already have experience, or to go for something new.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The 2008 global financial crisis not only shook the confidence of the financial services industry, but also affected a fundamental shift in public attitudes towards the sector. The year is now 2011 and global growth has returned, albeit at a significantly reduced pace to pre-crisis levels. Yet we are still engaged in a very public and highly emotive discussion about the role of financial services and the sector’s responsibility to UK society.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, May 19, 2011
Yesterday the IPT launched, Made in Britain; a series of site visits, high-level discussions and briefings for parliamentarians, examining the UK manufacturing sector. The programme began with an action-fuelled day at WMG (formerly Warwick Manufacturing Group) and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), with a focus on the automotive industry.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) held a reception at Speaker’s House last night. The event was hosted by the Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons and attended by supporters of the IPT including; MPs and Peers (Fellows past and present), Senior House staff, Trustees, member companies and supporting businesses.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, April 07, 2011
The final Introduction to Energy session closed the programme with perhaps the most pertinent discussion so far on the course. Representatives from the UK energy sector engaged in some future gazing for the benefit of our parliamentary audience and also addressed the unavoidable topic of nuclear energy.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, April 07, 2011
Intro to EnergyLord Haworth reviews IPT Energy programme.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Thursday, March 24, 2011
Future energy trends and decarbonising transportation were the topics of discussion at the Industry and Parliament Trust’s penultimate Introduction to Energy session yesterday. In a discussion under Chatham House Rule, representatives from the energy and transport sectors presented their approaches to these issues to a cross-part audience of parliamentarians.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
In his address to the Commons today, the Chancellor laid out a budget for growth, targeting amongst other things; manufacturing, entrepreneurialism and skills. The IPT will be debating each of these issues in more depth at various points throughout the year.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Friday, March 18, 2011
The Industry and Parliament Trust’s ‘Introduction to Energy’ programme continued this week with a session focusing on energy efficiency and fuel poverty. In a Chatham House Rules discussion representatives from the energy sector presented their views to an audience of cross-party parliamentarians.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, March 09, 2011
In light of recent geopolitical issues, session three of the Industry and Parliament Trust’s Introduction to Energy programme addressed two very important and topical concerns; the security of energy supply and the increasing demand from countries with developing economies. Two major oil and gas companies presented their approaches.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Intro to EnergyIn the second session of the Industry and Parliament Trust’s ‘Introduction to Energy’ series, presentations from a network operator and an energy consultancy highlighted the problems, challenges and possibilities for the future of energy distribution and production.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Friday, February 25, 2011
Staying true to the IPT’s creative and innovative events agenda, and having kept our ear finely tuned to the ground, our new and forward looking programme, Introduction to Energy began this month.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Monday, February 14, 2011
At a presentation for the completion of Baroness Henig’sIPT Fellowship in the energy sector, the Baroness and industry leaders reiterated the relevancy and usefulness of the IPT Fellowship programme.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Monday, February 14, 2011
At a breakfast briefing in the House of Commons this morning, tax legislation, pensions and skills were amongst some of the concerns to be highlighted to several MPs and peers by industry representatives. Key barriers to growth, as well as positive initiatives, were discussed under Chatham House rules.
By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Friday, February 11, 2011

Parliament for SMEs is intended to provide SME groups with high-level, authoritative Parliamentary information, to advise them on the best ways to campaign at a Parliamentary level and to identify what more Parliament could be doing in order to support them in this work.

The IPT fully supports this programme, which aims to bridge the gap of knowledge and contact all too often present in the Parliament/SME relationship.

For more information and to make a booking, visit the Parliamentary Outreach Service website.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Monday, February 07, 2011

Reflections on Government support for business based on a IPT roundtable discussion held on the 17th January 2011.

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Saturday, November 13, 2010

On Wednesday 3rd November Rt Hon the Baroness Jay of Paddington was presented with her Fellowship certificate following the successful completion of her Fellowship programme with Johnson and Johnson (J&J).

By IPTNewsBlogAdmin on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

On Tuesday 26th October 2010, the Rt Hon Lord Grocott Fellowship presentation took place at Portcullis House.