Another New Face to UK Broadband Minister

January 30, 2016

Stephen Timms has moved from his function of Competitiveness at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (which replaced the Department of Trade and Industry in June 2015), following parliamentary reform on 24th January.

Taking over from Timms, Baroness Shriti Vadera, (previously advisor to Gordon Brown as the Chancellor of the Exchequer) will take on the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business and Competitiveness.

Having previously worked at UBS Warburg as an investment banker for over 14 years before moving to the Treasury, Vadera has a background in business,

The voice of business, The Confederation of British Industry, articulated anxiety at the rate of turnover of business ministers.

Lucy Findlay (head of enterprise), CBI stated “This is the fifth minister in this role in less than three years. The constant changing of faces and portfolios has been unhelpful to building a long-term dialogue, so it is important that we now see a period of stability.”

Over the years Stephen Timms has endeavoured in his roles to assist in acknowledgement of the IT and Telecommunications industries, and promoted expansion and investment into new and faster broadband.

Vadera is thought to be continuing Timms’ approach to developing next generation broadband technologies such as fibre to the home (FTTH).