Expand Britain's airports, top businesses urge More than 100 of Britain's leading companies, including Aberdeen Asset Management, Land Securities, Lloyds Banking Group and WPP on Tuesday joined forces to call for an end to almost 70 years of inertia over airport capacity in Britain. A new campaign urging politicians to secure Britain's future as a global business centre has attracted support from some of the biggest names in the City, including Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, Rupert Soames of Aggreko, George Weston of Associated British Foods and Next chief executive Lord Wolfson. In an article for The Telegraph ahead of today's campaign launch, Sir Martin says capacity constraints threaten "to hamper the UK's success as a global business centre and at the same time the ability to forge a lasting economic recovery." He adds: "We live in a world where connectivity is key - not only in digital but also in physical terms. The campaign comes as Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the Airports Commission, prepares to publish a shortlist next month of the potential sites where extra runways, or even a brand new airport, could be built. Britain has not opened a new full-length runway since the Second World War.