Coalition not seen as business friendly One in three of the UK's biggest companies think that the coalition government is not business friendly, according to the first FT/ICSA Business Bellwether survey. By contrast, just 13 per cent believe the government is favourably disposed towards business. The results, based on answers from FTSE-350 company secretaries, come as new proposals from Vince Cable, business secretary, to curb excessive executive pay have already been attacked by some corporate leaders. Seamus Gillen, director of policy at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, said that executive pay and the heated discussions it generated was the type of "lightning rod" issue that made companies feel ministers did not always understand the conditions in which they had to operate. But, he said, the problem was wider. "Businesses feel that they are constantly on the receiving end of regulation covering areas such as employment conditions, pensions and other areas of social policy," he said. The demands may be reasonable in isolation. But cumulatively companies must factor in the costs at the same time as ministers urge them to create jobs. Sir Roger Carr, president of the CBI, the employers" organisation, said that while some coalition policies, for example on corporation tax and attacking regulation, had supported business, there had been a period when the political noise across all parties "did demonise business, and particularly big business." That tone had prompted Sir Roger and other business leaders, including Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, and Lord Wolfson, chief executive of Next, to speak out against growing anti-business sentiment. "I think in the past couple of weeks there has been a more thoughtful and helpful tone from David Cameron and George Osborne that has been welcomed by the business community," Sir Roger said on Wednesday. The survey results also suggested dissatisfaction with the government's approach to education. Almost half the respondents singled it out as the priority for government investment, well ahead of transport and technology, each of which was cited by fewer than one in 10. Sir Roger said the finding chimed with the views of CBI members. Whoever I speak to, it is very clear that there is concern that we need to address education from primary school onwards. Unless we do so, relative to our position in the world, we'll find we are producing people who are not fit for purpose in terms of the skills that they will be expected to use in employment. The answers about business and government came as part of a wide-ranging survey of attitudes in UK boardrooms, carried out in association with the ICSA. Mr Gillen said the full results highlighted the scale of the challenges and the turbulent environment faced by UK businesses. "In that context, we can understand that they want all the help they can get from the government to enable them to compete effectively," he said.