Mitie's takeover by rival facilities management group OCS marks the London Stock Exchange's eleventh £1 billion acquisition so far this year — and that figure does not yet include the Prologis bid for Segro. The pace forms part of a longer-running trend in which British-listed companies have been steadily acquired by overseas buyers or taken private, thinning the ranks of the London market.

Each fresh transaction inevitably reignites debate over the competitiveness of the London Stock Exchange, with familiar voices urging the state to direct pension fund investments toward domestic equities. However well-rehearsed these arguments may be, they risk addressing symptoms rather than underlying causes.

Vibrant public markets are essential, but so too are private markets, credit lending to businesses, and the rate at which entirely new companies are formed. New Companies House registrations fell by 10 per cent in 2025. A sustainable forest requires acorns and saplings as much as it needs mighty oaks.

Writing as shadow business secretary — a position he holds in opposition following the Conservative Party's defeat in the July 2024 general election — Andrew Griffith argues that a whole-of-government effort is needed to prevent British companies from falling prey to overseas bids. Griffith previously served as City minister in the last Conservative government.

Restoring Confidence

First, boardrooms and founders need confidence. Griffith notes that this marks the third consecutive summer of unhelpful speculation about where the Chancellor's axe may fall. He questions how boards can be expected to defend their prospects and talk up their businesses without assurance that the ground will not be shot from beneath them. The new Prime Minister and Chancellor, he argues, must rule out any tax hikes immediately to provide certainty rather than prolonged ambiguity.

Easing Cost Headwinds

Second, Griffith calls for concrete action to address the cost pressures facing all British businesses, with energy and employment costs at the forefront. He advocates repealing Labour's 330-page Employment Bill, which he characterises as a return to 1970s-style labour regulation, arguing it would help bring a generation back into work.

He also urges immediate consent for the Jackdaw and Rosebank energy projects — both North Sea oil and gas developments — removal of the Energy Profits Levy, the windfall tax on oil and gas producers introduced in 2022, and an announcement ending carbon taxes — measures he says would be welcomed by businesses large and small, and would ultimately benefit consumers by reducing costs that feed into the cost of living.

Reforming Regulation

Third, Griffith contends that the overall level of regulation in the UK must change fundamentally, arguing that getting anything done is too hard, too expensive, and too slow. On financial regulation specifically, he references plans recently set out by Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, to end ring-fencing — the post-2008 financial crisis requirement that large banks separate retail deposits from investment banking activities — relax capital adequacy ratios, and reform the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Looking ahead, Griffith calls for lower and simpler taxes and a fundamental cultural shift to welcome back wealth creators and ambitious young people who are leaving for opportunities overseas. For all those concerned about the fate of British companies — large and small, listed or unlisted — he describes these as the urgent actions that would make a difference.

Andrew Griffith is shadow business secretary.