Comment: Growth is the new - if undefined - agenda

THE Queen’s Speech was designed to put growth on the agenda, a newly-fashionable concept favoured by the French and Greeks, though one which Westminster intends to balance with a commitment to controlling the deficit.

As with the King’s Hollywood version, yesterday’s ceremony was perfectly stage-managed, if predictable, but there were a few comforting lines to whet the audience’s appetite.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg said they would “stretch every sinew to return growth to the economy”. Growth even got the starring role in the opening credits, ahead of justice and constitutional reform, although reducing the public debt still has a big part to play.

The coalition has been careful to avoid looking like it is abandoning its hard-line stand on tackling the deficit in favour of a Plan B. But measures to stimulate growth are beginning to get more attention and today there may be more help in that direction if the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee slips another £25 billion to £50bn into the economy via quantitative easing.

The juicier bits of the Queen’s Speech were in the sub-plots, notably Business Secretary Vince Cable’s pledge to tame directors’ pay.

Strengthening the power of shareholders so they can hold companies to account will mean repealing section 439(5) of the Companies Act 2006 “making it possible for directors’ remuneration to be contingent on the outcome of the shareholder vote on the directors’ remuneration report.” There was no mention of the size of the vote required, but this is a significant result for shareholder activists who’ve campaigned for years for a better deal.

We were already expecting a commitment to separate retail and wholesale banking along the lines recommended by the Independent Commission on Banking, though the banks have been left too long waiting for the details of how the “ringfencing” will work.

The uncertainty has contributed to the postponement of Santander UK’s flotation and the whole process of splitting functions will add billions to every bank’s costs.

Supermarkets are also in the eye of a government now prepared to tackle businesses deemed to be either too big to fail, or just too big that they crush all those around them. The introduction of a Groceries Code Adjudicator to ensure supermarkets act fairly towards suppliers is one of a number of measures to help smaller firms who the government says it is committed to support.

There will be a further reduction in red tape and companies will be delighted if it eases their costs. But extending parental rights is no help to smaller firms who have to employ extra cover.

Beyond this, there was little support for hard-pressed working families who would surely prefer measures to support well-paid jobs.

Too many firms are massaging their margins by employing armies of low-paid temporary staff.

Unless this growing section of the working population is given greater protection, the growth strategy will suffer from a lack of spending power and confidence among potential consumers.

KO for another high street heavyweight

THE carnage on the high street shows no sign of easing. Clinton Cards will become one of the biggest casualties of 2012, but it won’t be the last.

While there was no confirmation last night of where any axe may fall, word is that Scotland is particularly vulnerable as the stores north of the Border are believed to have under- performed the group as a whole.

Clinton’s problems are blamed on the usual supermarket and online competition, but also cheaper rivals on the high street, such as the Card Factory, who have tapped into consumer resistance to paying upwards of £3 for a sheet of decorated cardboard.

Chief executive Darcy Willson-Rymer led a fruitless search for a buyer. The lack of takers is itself a symptom of a market that is short of interest in bricks and mortar retail operations.

The group includes the Birthdays chain, once owned by Scots entrepreneurs Chris Gorman and Sir Tom Hunter, and it is likely to test investors’ nerves if it is to get another rebirth.