Labour needs a prawn cocktail offensive for all businesses, not just small firms

Both Jacqui Smith and Dermot Finch have written in recent days about the need for Labour to embark on a new “prawn cocktail offensive” to charm the business community. I agree with Jacqui and Dermot and I’m optimistic about the reception Labour is likely to receive from the business community, provided we have the courage to engage with all businesses – small firms, mid-caps and large corporates.

This doesn’t mean deviating from the responsible capitalism agenda. If business wants more meaningful engagement with politicians then it must help drive reform and demonstrate it is not run by “aliens”, as former CBI head Sir Richard Lambert put it. But the risk for Labour is that the debate about predators and producers is heard by the business community as “big business bad, small business/enterprise good”.

The coalition has given Labour an opportunity here. Many CEOs, including outside financial services, feel like pariahs. They think ministers neither understand their businesses nor want to be associated with them. This disengagement started with the Conservatives in opposition; I heard senior business figures say they could pick up the phone and speak to Gordon Brown more easily than they could speak to David Cameron. Business leaders today bemoan the absence of a Geoffrey Norris figure in Number 10 and a business secretary with the clout to fight their corner in Whitehall.

So far, Labour’s tentative steps towards developing a policy programme for business have focussed on small firms, including the small business taskforce chaired by Nigel Doughty. There are signs that Labour is also beginning to think about the M in SMEs. Ed Miliband referenced Germany’s Mittelstand in his Reuters speech last week and Chuka Umunna has just returned from a trip there. Labour needs to build on this and develop a narrative and policy proposals to appeal to medium and large businesses.

I’m optimistic that Ed Miliband understands this. When I worked for Richard Lambert at the CBI, Ed was the only leadership candidate who agreed to meet Richard. Ed is supported by a strong economic and business team; Ed Balls, Rachel Reeves and Chuka Umunna are already out talking to business audiences. Other members of the shadow cabinet such as Liam Byrne (who ran Labour’s business engagement before the 1997 election and started his own business before becoming an MP) can speak convincingly to business people.

Here are my tips for Labour as it begins to rebuild its business support.

First, make better use of talent in the party. Senior backbenchers like Alastair Darling and Pat McFadden, and others in the party like Peter Mandelson, command the respect of business figures and could be used as emissaries for the leadership.

Second, some more practical business experience at the adviser level would be welcome (full disclosure: I once applied for a job with Chuka’s predecessor John Denham).

Third, harness the enthusiasm and ideas of activists and grassroots projects like Labour’s Business.

And finally…don’t try to please Digby Jones. It will never happen.