Success of GlaxoSmithKline shames our squabbling politicians

What a day of contrasts, a day in which the tale of two Britain’s was laid out so starkly: one of corporate brilliance and one of Westminster pantomime.

In the business world, the UK’s mighty GlaxoSmithKline launched a daring plan to form a new £10bn consumer healthcare joint venture with its drugs rival, the US-based Pfizer. That’s just the first stage of the deal. The next bit will be to hive off the new consumer healthcare business – in which GSK has a majority stake with 68% of the equity – in three years time, creating a new business which would then be spun off.

And the genius of the deal is this: the £91 billion giant will then go back to concentrating on what it does best, inventing and developing block-buster new drugs and vaccines.

While GSK’s chief executive, Emma Walmsley, was out striking her deals across the globe, at Westminster the Prime Minister and the opposition leader were trading faux insults. Theresa May’s pantomime jibes at the Labour leader’s over his about turn over a no-confidence vote and his return swipe that she is a ‘stupid woman’ is not a good look for either party at a time of such national tragedy.

The contrast between the two events could not have been more complete, and more symptomatic of the farcical impasse which the government finds itself in while trying to push the PM’s deal through parliament.

Indeed, the PM could do with taking some deal-making tips from GSK’s Walmsley as the pharma boss has a clear end-game, and more pertinently, has the confidence to know – and tell – where she is heading. GSK’s joint venture with Pfizer is Walmsley’s third deal in as many weeks: she recently sold the GSK’s Indian nutrition business – which includes night time drinks brand Horlicks, to Unilever for nearly $4bn and, on the same day, announced she was buying the cancer drug specialist, Tesaro, for $5bn.

What’s interesting about Walmsley’s bold move is that when the 49-year-old first became chief executive last year, analysts were convinced she would keep consumer healthcare as a core part of the business. Indeed, that’s her background, having worked for L’Oreal for years, joining GSK as head of the European consumer healthcare business before becoming president and then promoted last year to the top slot.

Whether that was her ambition to begin with is not known. But since taking over, she appears to have been heading only in one direction and that is to return GSK to specialising in new life-saving drugs. Her takeover of the US oncology specialist, Tesaro, was a big and brave bet on backing the next generation of its cutting edge cancer genetic drugs which are showing great potential for treating a broader range of cancers.

Unlike the PM, once Walmsley set her direction, she has not deviated. As she said yesterday: “Ultimately, our goal is to create two exceptional, UK-based global companies, with appropriate capital structures, that are each well positioned to deliver improving returns to shareholders and significant benefits to patients and consumers.”

If there are lessons to be drawn from GSK’s masterly deal, it is one of confidence and self-belief. And Brexit didn’t even come into it.

It’s not often that corporate Britain gets it right. We are always quick to criticise businessmen and women for their short-termism but this deal – which is really a restructuring for the long term – is just the sort of forward planning we should be backing.

It is also one that the politicians should draw confidence from and celebrate. But of course they won’t, too busy with their posturing. They should also be shouting out more about the positive figures on the economy rather than allow the extremist Cassandras on both sides of the Brexit debate to scare the public with their ‘crashing’ out scenarios.

The latest figures from the Paris based OECD showed that in the third quarter, Britain was the second fastest growing in the Group of Seven wealthiest economies after the US.

Not that one wants to gloat, but the rest of Europe is having a horrible time.  Germany’s economy contracted by 0.2 per cent, Italy was minus 0.1 per cent and France is seeing lower growth than the UK. And the outlook is getting worse: the latest Business Climate Indicator for Germany is at a 27-month low while its car industry is going through its own restructuring because of the high cost of the EU’s latest green requirements.

But you don’t hear much about that.  No wonder so many of Britain’s business leaders simply ignore Westminster’s wailings and get on with the job, as the PM might say.