Heavyweight firms urge PM to back Heathrow runway

More than 270 firms including contractors Bam Nuttall, Mace and Morgan Sindall have backed a third runway at Heathrow in an open letter to the prime minister.

The letter calls on David Cameron to implement the Davies Commission recommendation of a new runway at Heathrow to support businesses and maintain the status of the UK’s “well-connected open trading economy.”

Signatories on the letter include chief executives and directors from Bam Nuttall, Mace, Morgan Sindall, Babcock, Aecom and Turner & Townsend.

It says Heathrow has been “operating at capacity for the past decade” and that the lack of capacity is “holding back UK businesses who want to fly directly to emerging markets; trade and transport their goods via air freight; create more jobs and connect to the UK’s regions.”

The letter adds: “The Commission is clear: further delay will be increasingly costly and will be seen, nationally and internationally, as a sign that the UK is unwilling or unable to take the steps needed to maintain its position as a well-connected open trading economy in the twenty first century.”

Commenting on the letter, Heathrow chief executive John Holland Kaye said: “Now the Prime Minister has the opportunity to show he is serious about delivering Britain’s long-term economic plan by listening to businesses from across the UK and backing Heathrow expansion.

“This debate has never been about a runway – it is about the future of our country. Let’s get on with it.”