Gareth Southgate set to speak at Starmer’s flagship investment summit

Gareth Southgate and the boss of Aviva will be among the headline speakers at the government’s global investment summit next week as Keir Starmer looks to flaunt the country in front of international financiers.

In a programme outlining the schedule, sent to attendees this evening, the government said sessions would cover the new government’s “vision for the UK and mission to grow the economy” and the UK’s plans to reap “a stability dividend” under the new administration.

The schedule, seen by City AM, reveals that the former England manager Gareth Southgate will appear on a panel discussing “soft power as a hard investment opportunity” alongside Sir Lucian Grainge, the chairman and CEO of Universal Music, and Adjoa Andoh, the actor and writer.

Among the other unannounced names are Amanda Blanc, the boss of FTSE 100 insurance giant Aviva.

“[Sessions] will cover subjects such as: investment opportunities arising from the decarbonising of our electricity grid; health tech and AI in the UK and how our unique datasets present an opportunity to revolutionise care; reflections on investing in a more uncertain world – and the UK’s plan to reap a stability dividend,” the programme said.

As announced by ministers on Sunday, the summit will kick off with a headline discussion between Starmer and Eric Schmidt, former chief of Google, moderated by Dame Emma Walmsley, chief executive of GSK. 

Schmidt served as the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011 and as the tech giant’s executive chairman from 2011 to 2015.

Other high-profile speakers include Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of Blackrock, and Bruce Flatt, chief executive and chairman of Brookfield Asset Management.

The event has been planned as a pitch to global investors to showcase the appeal of Britain under Labour but has reportedly been beset by troubles and overshadowed by the government’s failure to appoint an investment minister since winning the election in July.

Central to the brief of investment minister is courting international investors and banging the drum for Britain on the international stage. 

Lord Dominic Johnson, the Tory peer and co-founder of now shuttered investment house Somerset Capital Management, who held the role in Rishi Sunak’s government, has criticised the lack of appointment and urged business to “step up and serve their country.”

Not having a Minister for Investment 100 days into office is “totally ridiculous” and “clearly they’ve tried to fill it,” he added.

Andrew Griffith MP, the Conservative MP and former Downing Street business adviser involved in delivering previous investment summits, said there was a “lack of seriousness” about the summit and questioned the timing of the event “weeks before international investors face a reported budget mugging from Rachel Reeves”.

“For three months there’s been a vacant sign where the Investment Minister should be whilst government ministers have been re-announcing deals agreed by their predecessors,” he said.

A source close to Downing Street said they were “90 per cent certain” the appointment of a businessperson to the role and their elevation to the Lords would be announced before the weekend, Sky News reported yesterday.

However, the vacancy is adding to questions over the organisation of the summit and risks undermining the pitch to global investors.

Starmer mounted a defence today and said that “hundreds” of chief executives were planning to attend the conference and he was confident of investment announcements in the weeks to come.