Public affairs and policy engagement
Octopus is investing in the people, ideas and industries that will change the world. We strongly believe there is no trade-off between ‘doing good’ and ‘making money’. We believe that companies that understand what it means to make the world a better place will deliver better financial returns for their investors over the coming decades.
We believe in making the UK the best place in the world to set up, scale up and list a company. Our public affairs work supports UK businesses in unlocking investment into solutions tackling humanity’s greatest challenges. We are revitalising our healthcare system, empowering people and communities, and building a sustainable planet to accelerate the journey to net zero.
Principles for Public Affairs and Lobbying
- We engage in public policy and lobbying only where we believe it will contribute to a positive impact on society and is consistent with our mission to use business as a force for good.
- Our approach is non-partisan: we engage across the political spectrum, but we do not affiliate ourselves with any political party.
- We do not make donations to political parties. While some members of our Board may have made donations in a personal capacity in the past, this is not part of our corporate policy or future plans.
- We attend political party conferences each year to listen, learn, and contribute to policy debates, but always in line with our stated values and without partisan alignment.
- We adhere fully to the rules of the UK Electoral Commission, the Register of Consultant Lobbyists, and the Scottish Parliament’s Lobbying Register. We will only work with public affairs agencies that are registered and compliant with these requirements.
Policy engagement
- We contribute to public policy debates on issues relevant to our business, our investors, and the communities we serve.
- We draw on the data, experience, and insights from the companies we invest in to inform our engagement and provide evidence-based contributions to policy discussions.
- Our engagement takes place through direct correspondence, meetings, consultations, and participation in industry groups and collective initiatives.
- We prioritise collaborations that amplify our ability to deliver positive systemic change.
Governance and Oversight
- Our public affairs and policy engagement work is overseen by co-founder and board member Chris Hulatt, who sits on the Quarterly Public Affairs Forum.
- The Public Affairs Forum brings together representatives from across the group every quarter to:
- Review our public affairs activity and lobbying practices.
- Ensure alignment with our values, mission, and B Corp commitments.
- Develop a cohesive and focused group-wide strategy that uses our influence as a force for good.
- Monitor risks and compliance with all relevant regulations.
Get in touch
Justine Duggan, Director of Policy and Public Affairs
Contact: [email protected]
Justine started her career straight out of school working at the Mirror Group Newspapers and has worked at various national newspaper titles before embarking on a career in public affairs. She made the jump to public affairs working for the Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP. After 7 years in Parliament, she went to work at iNHouse Communications working with clients such as Sky, Diageo and NHBC before taking on the role at Octopus Group.
She has been a councillor and sits on the advisory council of Thames 21.
If you have any questions or concerns about our lobbying practices please do get in touch with Justine, you can learn about our complaint process here.
Transparency
We are committed to transparency in our public affairs activity. Below you will find a list of the groups we are members of, details of the public affairs agencies we work with, a list of the consultations we have taken part in over the last 5 years, and any donations made to political or campaigning organisations.
We are members of the following groups
Who we work with
Consultations
Over the last year we have fed into the following consultations and inquiries:
| Jan 2021 | HMT Budget representation |
| March 2021 | Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy – call for evidence: Enabling a high renewable, net zero electricity system |
| May 2021 | Treasury Select Committee Inquiry into jobs, growth and productivity after coronavirus |
| June 2021 | Department of Health and Social Care’s call for evidence on the Women’s Health Strategy |
| Oct 2021 | Autumn Budget and Spending Review |
| Jan 2022 | Department of Work and Pensions consultation: enabling investment in productive finance |
| Jan 2022 | Department for International Trade’s GCC consultation |
| Nov 2022 | Department for Work and Pensions consultation: Broadening the investment opportunities of defined contribution pensions schemes |
| Jan 2022 | Spring Statement |
| Feb 2022 | Work and Pensions Committee consultation: Protecting pension savers – five years on from the pension freedoms: Saving for later life |
| June 2022 | Treasury Select Committee consultation into Venture Capital Market |
| Aug 2022 | Labour’s Start up Scale up Review |
| Jan 2023 | Spring Statement |
| Mar 2024 | March 24 Octopus Money response to the Guidance Boundary Review |
| Sept 2024 | Autumn Budget Submission |
| Feb 2025 | Octopus Money response to Advice Boundary Review |
| Sept 2025 | Business and Trade Committee Inquiry to Financing the Real Economy |
| Oct 2025 | Autumn Budget Submission |
Donations
Over the last 5 years Octopus Group have made no donations to political parties or campaign groups.