Theresa May will meet small and medium sized enterprises to discuss how to create a more productive, higher skilled economy.
The Prime Minister will say SMEs are the backbone of the British economy, and state that the government will support a more productive, high skill economy open to new technologies and opportunities.
Business leaders in attendance will have the chance to air their views on EU exit negotiations and how the government can help seize new export opportunities.
The roundtable comes in the same week as the first meeting of a new Cabinet committee focussed on the economy and industrial strategy, underlining the government’s new emphasis on engagement with SMEs.
Speaking ahead of the roundtable, the Prime Minister Theresa May said:
"From dynamic start-ups to established family firms, our small and medium sized businesses are the backbone of our country. I want to build an economy that works for all, and that means working with, and listening to, smaller firms. The priorities I have set: a more productive, skilled workforce, an economy balanced across the UK and open to new opportunities, can only be achieved if we listen to these businesses.
"This isn’t about dry economics. Britain’s 5.4 million small and medium sized businesses provide people with jobs, put food on families’ tables and underpin the strength of our economy. They are a fundamental part of my vision of building a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.
"I also want those firms, across all the sectors of our economy, to be able to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Brexit, such as exporting to new destinations. So I’ll be asking them for their views on we get our whole economy.”
