A boozy breakie with Nige? Big business is flirting with Reform, but at what cost?

But despite the headlines, there was plenty of caution. Some businesses worry their brand could be tainted by association, unsure whether Reform can maintain momentum or even survive past the next election cycle. As one public affairs executive told the Times, they were merely “dipping their toe in the water.”

And even Heathrow was quick to clarify its position, issuing a statement distancing itself from any explicit support for Reform.

“Heathrow has had a significant presence at major party conferences for decades and has hosted airport-style lounges at Labour, Conservative and SNP conferences for over 10 years,” a spokesperson said, adding that the airport has a long track record of “constructive engagement across the political spectrum.”

Still, the presence of Heathrow, and other major companies – even cautiously – signals that business is beginning to hedge its bets, or at the very least, is opening the lines of communication with a party once considered well outside the political mainstream.

Even TikTok made an appearance at the conference, though perhaps unsurprisingly, given Farage’s huge presence on the platform.

And with the Reform currently topping polls, and even being on course for a landslide in the next general election, according to the increasingly Reform-leaning Telegraph’s own election result predictor, the presence of corporate players raises deeper questions: is big business seriously entertaining the idea of a Farage-led government? And if so, what are the risks?

Farage and Reform’s leadership are certainly hope so. Politico recently reported that Farage and his deputy Richard Tice have been quietly working the business breakfast circuit, meeting City figures and forging relationships. The hiring of City policy veteran John Gill suggests a more professionalised outreach is underway.

As Farage’s former aide Gawain Towler put it: “People like Farage and Richard Tice and others are intensely at ease in that community, because it’s essentially their people. Once the City have got over their squeamishness, they find that they get on with the people involved. But there is squeamishness.”

Indeed, Reform believes that winning over the City may be easier than converting the wider business world, given Farage’s past as a commodities trader making him a natural inhabitant of their world. His pro-crypto position has also won him friends in fintech circles. In May, Reform became the first European political party to accept Bitcoin donations and has floated the idea of a digital currency reserve.

But not everyone in the financial world is charmed. Tensions remain with institutions like the Bank of England, which Farage and Tice have publicly criticised. In June, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey hit back, after Farage proposed scrapping interest on central bank reserves. Tice has also floated questions concerning Treasury influence over interest rate decisions, a move seen by some as threatening the Bank’s independence.

Just this week, it emerged that Tice said he would meet Andrew Bailey, who has called the party’s proposal to save taxpayer money by stopping the Bank paying interest on commercial banks’ deposits “illusory”.

Tice told the Telegraph: “We’ve got a meeting later this month, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Tice also raised the issue in his closing speech at the Reform Party Conference, claiming the Bank had said he was “right”.

But banks, still wary from the 2023 Coutts debanking scandal, remain hesitant. “That sort of issue was kind of ‘of the moment,’” one Reform official admitted. “It’s not something that Nigel is continuing to push on.”

Yet caution hasn’t stopped an apparent shift in perception. According to a recent City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll, voters now see Reform as the most pro-business party in Britain, outscoring the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour, which trailed with a score of just 3.8 out of 10.

Richard Tice claims the party’s messaging on tax cuts, deregulation, and scrapping net zero targets is “filtering through” to the business community. He pointed to key manifesto pledges, such as scrapping inheritance tax for estates under £2 million, ending off payroll working rules that make intermediaries pay the same taxes as company employees and lifting the VAT threshold to £150,000, measures he claims are striking a chord with business owners frustrated by what they see as red tape and over-taxation.

Yet these pledges have been criticised by economists and opposition groups for being fiscally implausible. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned at the time that the numbers simply didn’t add up, flagging concerns over a lack of detail in how these generous tax cuts would be funded. Tice labelled the criticism as “juvenile claptrap.”

Meanwhile, as the FT reported,  Reform’s attempts to trumpet big-name support has also fallen flat. The Tory-donor owned digger-maker JCB and FirstGroup were both name-dropped as backers, but both denied any affiliation, clarifying that they were just exhibitors at the party conference.

Far from a who’s who of UK business, the exhibitor list featured gold-selling websites and a Direct Bullion stand showcasing a Farage coin with the slogan: “Are you safe from the wealth tax?”

Chief executives stayed away. According to the Guardian, which spoke to a dozen business leaders, most firms sent junior staff instead of C-suite representatives. “Everyone feels awkward, no one wants to be called out as being there,” said one corporate affairs boss. “They’re a toxic brand, as well as a popular one – a very divisive brand. Some people don’t want their businesses to be seen as speaking to, or legitimising, them.

“Everyone can see Farage using businesses that turn up as a sort of, ‘Well, we’ve got all the businesses onside.’ That is the concern going on.”

And who could blame them for keeping their distance? When Andrea Jenkyns took to the stage in a sequinned dark blue jumpsuit to perform a self-written song titled “Insomniac”, warbling, “are this awful Labour government giving you sleepless nights as well?”, CEOs probably breathed a sigh of relief that they’d made the right call. As for the poor junior staffers sent in their place, it probably clarified exactly why their bosses were nowhere to be seen.

So, is big business genuinely cosying up to Reform, or just flirting for now? Either way, we should be wary. The danger isn’t just whether Farage’s economic plans are viable, as they aren’t, but whether businesses are helping to legitimise a party that thrives on division and whose policy platform remains paper-thin.

Farage might be clinking glasses at City breakfasts today, but the country could wake up with a hell of a hangover tomorrow.

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is author of Right-Wing Watch