Business lobby stunned after meetings scrapped Andrea Leadsom, the business secretary, is to stop her weekly meetings with the UK’s five largest business groups; the CBI, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Institute of Directors, Make UK and the Federation of Small Businesses, many of whom are dominated by big multi nationals and who were rabidly anti Brexit. Instead she will hold monthly meetings with a wider audience of business representatives, including the Creative Industries Federation, Tech UK and the British Retail Consortium. A government source said the move “levels the playing field” and has nothing to do with the stance of any of the groups on Brexit.