Douglas Alexander urges Labour party to woo big businesses

Labour's campaign chief has urged his party to build better relations with big business, arguing that leading corporate figures will swing votes at the next general election.

Douglas Alexander said Labour must learn the lesson of last week's Scottish referendum and recognise that interventions by business leaders are important in shaping voting intentions.

Mr Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary who oversaw Labour's campaign in Scotland, said: "When they voice concerns about jobs and investment they are listened to."

Mr Miliband has been criticised by David Cameron, the prime minister, for "business bashing" after a series of interventions in recent years against "predatory" companies and his strong criticisms of banks, energy companies, rail operators and others.

Mr Alexander shares the view of Chuka Umunna, Labour's business spokesman, and Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, that the party must explain its intentions more clearly to business leaders.

Senior Labour figures admit the party is unlikely to win a single endorsement from a FTSE 100 chief executive, but believe they can at least try to strike up a more constructive relationship with business.

Mr Alexander believes the anti-independence statements made by bosses of insurance companies, banks and oil producers in the final stages of the Scottish referendum campaign were vital.

Although he concedes that some companies - especially banks - have tarnished their own reputations in recent years, voters are still inclined to listen to them. "Business did play an influential role in the referendum campaign," he said.

Speakers at this year's Labour conference have been less inflammatory towards business and Mr Miliband is expected to dial down his criticism of corporate Britain when he addresses delegates on Tuesday.

Mr Balls and Mr Umunna told the Labour conference in Manchester that the party wanted to forge a partnership with business, including cutting business rates for 1.5m business properties, investing in skills and creating a British Investment Bank.

But business leaders complain that Labour's pro-business rhetoric is often at odds with policies which they say will harm jobs and investment, including Mr Miliband's pledge this week of above-inflation rises in the minimum wage to £8 an hour by 2020.

Mr Umunna said: "The bottom line is this: to be pro-jobs you have to be pro the people that create them: our businesses. And to be pro-business you have to be pro the people who work in them."

Labour has sought to counteract the anti-business label by pitching itself as the party for small businesses, taking aim at big business - for example, its promise to freeze energy prices and pledge to cancel a planned cut in corporation tax - while at the same time rolling out measures to help entrepreneurs.

The pledge to cut business rates by 1 per cent in 2015 for smaller businesses, made on Sunday, was aimed squarely at trying to keep the small business lobby on board in the face of the unwelcome minimum wage promise.

It appears to be working. Mike Cherry, head of policy at the Federation of Small Businesses, praised Labour for its attempts to engage with small companies. "I think they have a far greater understanding of the support business needs to have an environment they could create to enable them to fulfil their ambitions of growth and job creation," he told the Financial Times.

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