The crisis at the CBI has deepened following further disturbing revelations and a number of leading firms have resigned. They include Aviva, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, John Lewis, Mastercard and Vodafone.
The CBI claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, but the number is boosted by the fact that it has a hybrid membership model made up of individual businesses and trade associations. Hence it can claim to represent the 46,000 members of the National Farmers' Union.
It is difficult to work out how many individual companies there are in membership, but the Financial Times estimates there are about 700. These companies pay the bulk of the £20m subscriptions. It is thought that some companies pay over £100,000 a year.
The CBI has now suspended activities until June, but can it recover? Who else can speak for business? MakeUK and HospitalityUK effectively represent their sectors. The Institute of Directors have individual members. The British Chambers of Commerce are made up of local chambers of varying strength and largely speak for smaller businesses.
If the CBI disappeared, it would have to be reinvented. Business interests are in many ways divergent, but there are common concerns about macro economic policy such as corporate taxation. However, a new organisation based on big businesses might lack legitimacy.
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