Kemi Badenoch will step up her business charm offensive after the Budget with a roundtable hosted by Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, City AM can reveal.
The Tory leader will co-host a lunch for founders, investors and chief executives from across the UK alongside Goldman Sachs International’s chief executive, Anthony Gutman, City AM understands.
The event will take place at Goldman’s City office on 5 November, just one week after Labour Chancellor John Healey delivers his Autumn Budget.
In an invitation from Gutman, guests were told the lunch would be an opportunity to engage with Badenoch “on the political and business environment in the UK”.
The event is expected to give Badenoch a platform to pitch her “vision for the future” after what is expected to be a bruising Budget for business.
Badenoch to charm City after Budget
The November summit follows similar events held by Rachel Reeves during her stint as Chancellor.
Last October, Gutman hosted an event with Reeves for IPO candidates, as the Treasury scaled up efforts to lure more firms into a float on the London market. Reeves also held a close relationship with the boss of JP Morgan Jamie Dimon, who introduced her during a roundtable at Davos this year.
Badenoch’s event comes as Healey is tipped to target the City to balance the books in his first major fiscal event. An increase to the UK banking surcharge – which sits on top of corporation tax – is highly predicted in a move that is expected to raise some £2bn.
The Tories joined the defensive ranks against a bank tax hike last week during a visit to Edinburgh, where Badenoch urged Healey not to cave to the demands of the Labour left and trade unions.
The Conservatives have ramped up their pitch to the City over the last year with sweeping deregulation pledges, which include the abolition of ring-fencing and the financial ombudsman.
A Tory source said the party was “putting forward an exciting package of policies that will encourage more investment, more start-ups and a stronger City of London”.
The Conservatives declined to comment. Goldman Sachs declined to comment.