John Cridland to boldly go after five-year mission on CBI bridge

The CBI has begun to look for a new director-general to replace John Cridland, who has decided to step down after five years in the role.

Mr Cridland, 54, the first CBI insider to rise to the top of the business lobby group, told the Financial Times that he had always intended to follow the lead of his predecessors and serve one five-year term.

"I'm a big Star Trek fan and just like James Kirk I have always told colleagues at internal meetings that I saw this as part of a five-year journey," he said, referring to the captain of the starship Enterprise, whose journeys through deep space were the setting for the original television series.

Mr Cridland said he had no intention of easing up and would lead the CBI through a "challenging" general election and the inevitable disruption in the early months of a new government.

"There is more uncertainty around than normal ahead of an election and business needs predictability and responsibility in policy," he said.

The CBI has appointed Odgers Berndtson, the executive recruitment agency, to find a successor in the £312,000-a-year job. Mr Cridland's contract is due to expire in January.

The search is expected to take at least three months and there are not yet thought to be any frontrunners. Mr Cridland said he had not been asked to make any recommendations, but singled out his deputy director-general for praise. "I have a very able deputy in Katja Hall, but I would be expecting a full [list of candidates] both internal and external."

Mr Cridland joined the CBI as a policy adviser in 1982 and held several jobs, including deputy director-general, before being appointed to the top post.

He thought his greatest achievement was to have made the CBI a "more efficient and nimble organisation". He also pointed to how the organisation had engaged more with the public to explain the role of business. "I think the CBI under my leadership has reached out to all sections of society to explain what wealth-creation is all about."

He conceded that the message was perhaps slow in getting through. "It's early days, but I expect my successor to continue the campaign."

Mr Cridland would not be drawn on his next move, but said: "I believe I still have one major role in me."

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In one of the CBI's more recent interventions, Mr Cridland fired a warning shot across Labour's bows when he said the next government should not borrow to invest in infrastructure - one of the key planks of the party's economic plan.

Before that, he had taken aim at the leaders of the two big parties when he urged them to resist opportunistic attacks on business, migration and the EU during the campaign.

A CBI spokesman said: "This year marks the CBI's 50th anniversary and, with the election looming, John remains focused on ensuring the new government delivers pro-enterprise policies and championing British business at home and abroad."

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