Sajid Javid's appointment is departure for business department

A portrait of Margaret Thatcher on his ministerial wall and annual attendance at the American Enterprise Institute's conference in Washington: as a Thatcherite and free-enterprise Tory, Sajid Javid is quite a departure from his Liberal Democrat predecessor Vince Cable.

The former City banker on Monday became the first Conservative business secretary in almost 18 years and is expected to run the department according to his political philosophy of minimal government intervention in markets.

"Deregulation will be top of his agenda for the business department," said one ally. "Sajid is a free marketeer at heart."

Cutting red tape and boosting apprenticeships are top of the to-do list for the business secretary. The Conservatives pledged in its manifesto to create 3m more apprenticeships.

In industrial relations, the government plans to make it more difficult for unions to call strikes in key public services by requiring the support of at lease 40 per cent of all those entitled to take part in strike ballots.

One official speculated that Mr Javid's reforming zeal might prompt the business secretary to revisit the No 10-commissioned Beecroft report on employment deregulation that was blocked by the Liberal Democrats in the coalition government.

Proposals included doing away with rights such as being able to sue for unfair dismissal and letting companies with fewer than 10 people fire staff at will with a pay-off.

While Mr Javid is likely to win support from business on these issues, the government's stance on holding a referendum on EU membership and immigration could prove more contentious.

On Europe, Mr Javid has positioned himself as a leading eurosceptic in the party, insisting that leaving the EU "isn't something we should be afraid of".

On immigration, the Conservatives have pledged to cap the level of skilled economic migration from outside the EU to 20,700 during this parliament, which could prove a problem for employers.

As a pro-immigration Liberal Democrat business secretary, Mr Cable was more than willing to go into battle with Theresa May to press businesses' case for importing skilled labour, seeing it as a useful point of differentiation between the two coalition partners.

Mr Javid's appointment is the latest upward move for the former Deutsche Bank executive who has risen rapidly up the ranks since entering parliament in 2010.

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His record at the culture department points to his natural business instinct: when Mr Javid took over as culture secretary from Maria Miller in 2014, he made improving Britain's broadband and mobile networks his key aims.

He corralled the UK's four mobile operators into an agreement to extend coverage to more than nine tenths of the UK following complaints in cabinet by the prime minister about the lack of reception in rural parts of the country.

Mr Javid was seen by executives close to the talks as switched on and intelligent in his questioning, but with a firm hand on decision making that tolerated little disagreement from the industry.

This came to a head with a tacit threat to force through proposals introducing "national roaming" - in effect opening up networks across the country for all to use - if operators did not sign up to a voluntary agreement.

John Cridland, director-general of the CBI employers' body, welcomed the appointment on Monday. "[He] will be a strong voice for the business community, helping to make its voice heard loud and clear at the cabinet table."

The CBI said it wanted the business secretary to focus on support for medium-sized businesses and boosting exports - two key aims of the coalition government.

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