Exclusive: PM Issues Business Rallying Cry

David Cameron today urged business leaders to utilise the London Olympics as the biggest trade promotion platform in British history.

Addressing a lunch for marketing and advertising executives at the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, Mr Cameron said the Olympic Games, which open on Friday, provided a spectacular opportunity to kickstart the UK economy and vowed that the coalition would not be derailed by domestic political difficulties.

People who heard the Prime Minister speak said he delivered an upbeat message about the British manufacturing sector, pointing to a recent expansion of car manufacturing in the UK, but admitted that the current economic turbulence was set to continue for some time.

Among those who attended the lunch were Sir John Sunderland, a non-executive director of Barclays, Drew Crawley, commercial director of British Airways, and Patrick Regan, finance director of Aviva.

The Prime Minister's rallying cry came ahead of one of the busiest-ever periods for trade promotion activity in Britain, with the Olympics projected by some analysts to be poised to deliver a multi-billion pound boost to the struggling UK economy.

Later this week, the Government will stage a major investment conference, at which ministers are expected to unveil billions of pounds in trade and business deals involving UK and overseas companies.

Mr Cameron also used today's lunch to address the ongoing crisis in the eurozone, expressing scepticism that a decisive solution would be reached in the short term.

People who heard the speech say the Prime Minister expressed the view that "kicking the can down the road" was a more likely scenario for the eurozone economies that full political union or a break-up of the single currency.

Last week, Mr Cameron cancelled the quarterly meeting of his Business Advisory Group, which consists of some of the country's most prominent businesspeople, because of his visit to Afghanistan .

Some members of the group are said to be concerned that Mr Cameron has not been sufficiently engaged with the business community.