But Conservatives hoping to use any of these grumbles as ammunition at their party conference this week would be better off holding fire.
Foreign investors are still wary of the UK precisely because of them, cautious following a chaotic government that churned through nine business secretaries and seven chancellors in nine years. One City executive argues that big-money, foreign investors have been put off of the UK ever since Brexit and the appointment of Liz Truss into No 10.
The comparisons with France are not new.
In a damning 124-page report published a year ago, executives said they were fed up with chasing the UK’s revolving door of ministers and found it easier to do business in France because president Emmanuel Macron picked up the phone and rolled out the red carpet.
Lord Harrington, who was commissioned by Jeremy Hunt to lead the report, said investors found that the UK was “disorganised, risk-averse, siloed and inflexible,” with politicians shoving financial decisions to a “series of semi-arm’s length institutions”.
Many investors were desperate for a change in government and are hopeful that this could be the start of a new, more investor-friendly era. Despite the gripes around the investment summit, this Government has been working hard to get across the narrative that this is the start of a new chapter. This has been accompanied by a constant stream of Whitehall meetings with influential corporate figures.
As Sir Keir met US investors for breakfast in New York last week, US investment giant Blackstone announced a £10bn investment in a new data centre in Northumberland. Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is exploring a shake-up of the Financial Conduct Authority, the under-fire City watchdog, in a bid to turbocharge Britain’s growth.