John Cridland, director-general of the CBI, has accused David Cameron’s government of loading too many burdens on to businesses, making the prospect of outsourced contracts from the public sector far less appealing.

He commented: “The danger… is that you thin the market because people say… actually it’s not in my shareholders’ interest to take this work, I can’t make a difference… I’ve got other things my bid team can go for in other countries.”

Cridland’s concerns include private companies having to take sole responsibility for the increased costs that will result from the new national living wage, affecting their profit margins without any additional incentives for taking on public sector work being provided.

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