Corridor pitch to Alan Johnson wins DTI rethink on agency rules

A common exercise in business and politics is the so-called 'elevator pitch' (to us Brits known as the 'lift')...

Imagine you find yourself in the elevator with the one person you need to speak to about a big deal or a particular political policy. You've got three floors to make three points.

This is particularly true during Party Conferences when there is a real chance you might find yourself in a lift with Gordon Brown or Dawn Primarolo. Last year, I attended the Labour Party Conference as PCG's Head of Public Affairs. Although it wasn't a lift, the principle was the same. Alan Johnson, Minister at the DTI with responsibility for the agency legislation, was looking for the fringe meeting he was due to speak at in the conference hotel. As I walked down the corridor to show him the room, the three points I raised were:

1. I'm Andy White with the PCG who represent 14,000 small businesses;

2. The agency regulations you are about to introduce are going to damage them;

3. Can we have a meeting to discuss it?

As a result, the Professional Contractors Group was invited to a series of meetings with DTI officials and the Minister where we were able to add the voice of the contractor to the arguments already put forward by big business and agents.

The outcome of this is that the DTI has announced that it is prepared to look again at the regulations and has gone out to another round of consultation. UKTECH has reproduced the report in our Conference Hall and we will be co-ordinating the responses from our readers to submit to the DTI as part of their consultation.

Here's the chance for contractors to have a direct say into Government about a matter which affects you and your business.

Andy White andy@UKTECH

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The Editor