CITY INTERVIEW: Former BT chief Ian Livingston is battling to boost Britain as the Minister for Trade & Investment

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More than a year has passed since Ian Livingston swapped his job as chief executive at BT for the ermine and a perch in Whitehall as Britain’s Minister for Trade & Investment.

The slim 50-year-old, Glaswegian barely has touched the ground since he took up his new post visiting some 27 countries, from Kazakhstan to Colombia, in the search for new markets to bolster Britain’s exports outside the European Union.

His transfer from BT has not entirely been seamless. One similarity is that BT is in 170 countries, so as Livingston sets out on his travels ‘pretty much everywhere I go I’ve had previous experience,’ he says in an interview in his utilitarian government office surrounded by posters telling us what is great about Britain.

Making waves: More than a year has passed since Ian Livingston swapped his job as chief executive at BT for the ermine and a perch in Whitehall as Britain’s Minister for Trade & Investment

The biggest difference between BT and Whitehall for Livingston is that having rid the once-nationalised telecoms group of its obstructive treacle layer, which made it difficult to bring about change, he is now having to deal with another.

‘There are frustrations in government. So I say to people, it is more difficult to get things done. I’m not so dumb to think it wouldn’t.’

Livingston takes pride in the fact that the BT he left was a ‘lot more agile an organisation’ that the one he inherited. ‘I think it probably surprised Gavin,’ the Trade Minister says referring to his successor Gavin Patterson

‘The interesting thing is actually the shares went up and BT talked about spending £12.5bn on mobile. That’s a sign of change,’ Livingston says. ‘I don’t actually think it matters for Britain having a global champion quad-player.

What does matter for Britain is having a company that sells around the world.

BT does that with its global services business. Also Vodafone, of course, sells in a lot of countries.

‘More importantly (quad play) might make a difference to the consumer. But that’s for others to think about now,’ the former BT boss says.

Having been persuaded by David Cameron that being the government’s trade czar is ‘really important’ Livingston is fully focused on the job, even though he has no political background.

Indeed, he is that very rare breed – a Glasgow Tory who is focused on free trade and strengthening the UK’s performance.

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-09 the pound lost almost a quarter of its value against the currencies of our major competitors and the former governor of the Bank of England Lord Mervyn King predicted an export-led recovery.

But it hasn’t quite happened like that. Stagnation in the UK’s main export market the European Union, that buys up to 45 per cent of our goods and services, has thwarted expansion and Britain is having to travel to all corners of the earth for new markets – or to boost those it already has.

That does not mean that Livingston is looking to a post-Europe trading world.

As a former businessmen he knows that extricating Britain from the European Union, after an in-out referendum in 2017, ‘would be complex’.

He is also sensitive to the fact that this is delicate political territory within the Tory party and in the run-up to a general election.

‘I do not believe we will exit the EU. I believe as the Prime Minister does that an agreement will be found. I can’t believe it is anybody’s interest to do it in a way that’s incredibly destructive.’

When he travels in Europe and he comes up against scepticism about the UK’s intentions he makes the point that the UK is ‘very pro-free trade. I say, well actually even UKIP, or most of the Labour Party, actually believe in free trade and would like to see more of it rather than less of it.’

If there were to be an exit from the EU, he says, ‘you would want to do it in a way that wasn’t injurious to both economies’.

UKTI is the government’s battering ram in this quest for new markets assisted across the world by diplomatic missions that have been required to sully their hands with commerce. ‘One of the things I do when I land is to ask the ambassador what is the most interesting fact I don’t know about your country,’ Livingston says in his office at the sprawling Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Among the things he has found out is that Qatar eats more chickens per head than any other country. 

Yet most of us in Britain thought it was famous for its love of central London real estate, its support of some dubious causes, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and managing to secure the 2022 football World Cup despite the blistering heat.

Livingston is impressed by the UK’s ability to sell coals to Newcastle. ‘So we sell Tregothnan Tea, that is grown in Cornwall, in China as well as sweet and sour sauces, spices to India and a lot of cheese in France.’

Mainly, however, Livingston is engaged in ways to make exporting easier. He is very focused on making sure that small and medium-sized businesses have access to finance for trade at a time when it has been difficult to directly access bank credit.

He is also intensely interested in bilateral trade deals, most notably the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that seeks to bridge the Atlantic with a free trade zone that eliminates the over-fussy regulation that hinders free markets.

And together with International Development secretary Justine Greening he is trying to assist British companies who are operating in Africa.

‘One of the key aims I’ve got is that UK Export Finance plays a much more significant role in the supporting of smaller businesses because 20 to 30 years ago someone decided that these enterprises didn’t need government support. That isn’t right, now,’ Livingston says.

He noted that the change in direction has seen a 50 per cent increase in the firms supported by UK Export Finance.

Livingston is anxious to see the TTIP happen amid signs that the political drive for a deal is fading despite David Cameron’s call for ‘rocket boosters’.

Livingston thinks there are three benefits to be had: ‘Lower tariffs which will mean cheaper prices in the shops. Easier rules for getting into the US, also a good thing. And regulatory coherence.’

The latter would end inconsistencies and provide a passport which would allow safety tests on an electrical product made in Germany to be acceptable in the US.

Opponents have charged such a deal could cause Europe to be flooded with ‘Frankenfoods’ such as chlorine-washed chicken.

Livingston rejects this, arguing that imports that breach European regulation including ‘hormone-fed beef’ will be simply not be allowed.

Livingston looks to be enjoying the challenge, including sitting on the front bench in the House of Lords where he is having to learn to be fleet of foot as questions from the floor come rolling in with Transatlantic trade partnership among the current favourite topics.

By all accounts he would rather be on a BA, Virgin or Easyjet flight (he always flies British when he can) playing the role of an adventurous super-salesman.