The Director General of the CBI, the organisation known as ‘the voice of business’ in Britain, will deliver a special guest lecture at the University of Lincoln on the future of UK plc.

John Cridland CBE is the key spokesman for the business community in the media, on public platforms and with Government. As Director General of the CBI, he lobbies on behalf of more than 240,000 businesses of every size, ranging from SMEs to FTSE 100 companies and spanning every sector of industry, from agriculture to financial services.

He will give a guest lecture to Lincoln Business School students and registered guests from Lincolnshire’s business community on Tuesday 15th January. The lecture, which will be followed by a question and answer session, starts at 6pm, with a networking event beforehand.

John’s talk is titled “The Future of Business: Delivering prosperity through private sector growth”. In it he will speak about the importance of an economic recovery driven by private sector investment, exports and a rebalancing of the economy. He will highlight the critical need for dynamic regions and economic growth outside London and the South East.

John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said: “We need to continue rebalancing our economy away from the over-reliance on consumer and government spending of the previous decade to deliver growth and prosperity from business investment and exports.

“But we must not rely on the usual suspects of London and the South East. The CBI is urging the government to strengthen the role of city regions and Local Enterprise Partnerships to boost the private sector across the UK.”

John was educated at Boston Grammar School and has an MA in History from Christ’s College, Cambridge. He joined the CBI as a policy adviser in 1982 and has been Director of Environmental Affairs and of Human Resources Policy. John was Deputy Director-General from 2000 to 2010.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Lincoln in 2011, and is returning to Lincoln to pass on his advice and wisdom to students and local businesses, sharing his views on the future of the economy.

The event, which is organised as part of Lincoln Business School’s employability programme, is open to members of Lincolnshire’s business community. People interested in attending can book a place for £5 before 5pm on Monday 14th January.

Professor Tom Mordue, Head of Lincoln Business School, said: “We are thrilled to welcome John Cridland to Lincoln Business School. This is a great opportunity for our students and the regional business community to hear from one of the country’s most influential economic thinkers and I am sure John will provide a great insight into the UK’s prospects of economic recovery.”

To book a place, visit: http://lncn.eu/km56