Tech Firms Tell Reeves to Ease Access to Capital in Growth Push

(Bloomberg) -- UK tech firms have asked the government to take further action to improve companies’ access to capital, as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves hopes to boost stock market listings and bolster the UK’s business competitiveness.

In a meeting with Reeves on Wednesday, attended by Revolut, Atom, Octopus Energy and others, businesses discussed recent reforms designed to ease listing and raising capital on UK markets, according to a Treasury readout of the meeting.

While they expressed “excitement” about recently announced plans to pool UK pension funds, so those funds could take bigger risks and make bigger investments, they told the Chancellor that further action was needed to ensure companies had the capital to grow.

Reeves’ meeting with the tech firms comes as the government is striving to improve economic growth in the UK, and put the public finances on a more sustainable footing. Since Labour came to power in July, inflicting a historic defeat on the incumbent Conservative Party, it has been criticized by business for hiking employment taxes and raising the minimum wage.

Reeves has repeatedly said that “tough decisions” needed to be made to “fix the foundations” of the UK economy, after claiming that the Tories had left a “£22 billion ($28 billion) black hole” in the public finances. But polls have shown the government’s popularity declining, especially since Reeves’ tax-hiking budget last month.

Wednesday’s meeting was also attended by Treasury Secretary Tulip Siddiq, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority Nikhil Rathi, and the London Stock Exchange Group’s Daniel Maguire and Julia Hoggett.

It concluded with an agreement that the government would work with industry to “enhance the UK’s appeal,” including by encouraging more participation in company capital raises from retail investors through work with the FCA, the readout said.

In an emailed statement after the meeting, Revolut’s chief executive Francesca Carlesi said it was “clear that the Chancellor is personally committed to making the UK truly competitive.”