Ismail Mulla: Sorry Dr Fox, but business bosses aren't busy golfing

That’s what Dr Liam Fox, our esteemed International Trade Secretary, would have you believe after accusing British corporate bosses of being “too lazy and too fat” and of preferring to play “golf on a Friday afternoon” rather than seeking out priceless export opportunities.

The absurdity of his remarks led me having to sit down and catch my breath. From my own experience covering business for two years, I know that this outburst could not be further from the truth. In this time I have rarely come across a business that doesn’t want to seek new opportunities – exports or otherwise. In fact many of these captains of industry eat, breathe and sleep business. On countless occasions, I have called a company boss on a Friday evening, or over the weekend, to ask a question about their firm.

Never once during these conversations have I encountered the sound of golf balls being struck in the background – or been told to go away on the basis that the call was out of hours and intruding on precious family time.

The worrying thing about the senior Cabinet minister’s comments is the deflating impact it could have on our SMEs. We hear a lot of rhetoric from successive Governments about the importance of small businesses to the UK economy and how they will back them to the hilt.

What will they think to the idea of the politician responsible for promoting and selling British trade to the world calling them lazy?

If my anecdotal evidence is too flimsy for Dr Fox, perhaps some recent cold hard facts will make him rethink his position which actually smacks of laziness on his part.

One in three new business owners admit that they haven’t had a holiday in more than two years, while a third of people who run a start-up do not have a holiday – with or without golf clubs – planned in 2016 or beyond.

The research by Lloyds Bank also showed that one in three small business owners find it difficult to switch off from their work, with 34 per cent saying they get in touch with colleagues or clients every day of the week.

Small business owners struggle when it comes to managing their work-life balance, clocking up 57 working hours in a normal week – 20 hours more than the average UK employee.

The best thing that can be said about the International Trade Secretary’s comments is they are ill-advised and were made off the cuff at a political event organised by Tory activists. For the benefit of Dr Fox, I speak to many bosses and two of their biggest concerns are job creation and security. They want to employ people and see staff as an extension of their family.

Over the weekend Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks, said that Dr Fox “had never done a day’s business in life”. Though not surprising, this disconnect between a Minister who is supposed to be representing the interest of business – and the actual needs of industry – continues a familiar trend.

The irony is that underlying this whole saga, golf-gate or whatever form it may have taken on social media, is a serious point. We will need to increase exports for our economy to flourish – and this needs to be speeded up.

Speaking to Sheffield-based JRI Orthopaedics earlier this year about their entry into the Brazilian market, I was astounded to find it took them four years to gain full validation.

If Dr Fox, and his compatriots Boris Johnson and David Davis, want to win the confidence of the business bosses, they need to stop this bunker mentality, step up to the tee and drive forward a new generation of trade deals that will enable our companies to thrive. That’s the reality check this country needs.