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UK Business Secretary Peter Kyle is set to tell the heads of top firms that he will ‘fight tooth and nail’ to achieve US levels of economic growth. Kyle is expected to set the ambitious target of competing with the US economy in a speech to executives from major firms on Wednesday. He will say: ‘We stood on a manifesto commitment to be the fastest growing economy in the G7, and we absolutely meant it.’ UK growth has stuttered over the past year, with the economy expanding 1.3% in the 12 months to September 2025, according to the most recent figures. While this was the joint-second highest growth in the G7, over the same period the US grew 2.3% despite a small contraction at the start of 2025. Kyle is expected to say: ‘I want to fight tooth and nail with you to get that extra growth, to compete with America. ‘I say this because I know what it would mean for families, the impact it would have on people’s wages, on their disposable income, on their living standards.’ To achieve this, Kyle will pledge to ‘go even further to reduce that regulatory burden’ to ensure firms remain in the UK, saying he will be doing ‘a lot more’ in the coming ‘days and weeks’. The meeting, at Bloomberg’s London headquarters, is set to be attended by representatives of leading businesses including Ford Motor Co, Meta Platforms Inc and Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. Other attendees will include the chief executive of Octopus Energy and executives from Heathrow, BP PLC, AstraZeneca PLC and consultancy McKinsey. Kyle will also use the opportunity to unveil three new members of the industrial advisory strategy council. They are Sky chief executive Dana Strong, Scottish Power Chief Executive Keith Anderson and Amelia Gould, general manager for maritime at German defence company Helsing. Press Association: Finance By Christopher McKeon, Press Association Political Correspondent Press Association: Finance source: PA Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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