The Government has been warned by big businesses that it is missing the chance to save billions of pounds by utilising the expertise and creative clout of Britain’s entrepreneurs and corporate leaders, when it comes to tackling Britain’s unemployment and mental health crisis, a new report has found.

More than half of business leaders (55%) feel their offers of help are being ignored by Number 10 and the Treasury, as ministers try to both balance the books – and address the nation’s pressing social, economic and healthcare challenges – despite boardroom enthusiasm for helping solve the problems, a new report by ReGenerate suggests.

Nearly two thirds (64%) of businesses report struggling to connect or partner with the government through a lack of engagement or clearly defined department or senior figure to work with.

This figure rises to 68% for micro businesses, which represent 21% of the total number of UK businesses.

Tessa Clarke, Co-founder and CEO, Olio said: “If the government is serious about fixing the enormous social and environmental challenges we face in this country, then they urgently need to step up to unleash the full potential of the UK’s businesses.”

Graham Briggs from Greene King added: “There is a huge amount of power in businesses to solve key social and environmental challenges, that’s why we need an Office for the Impact Economy to help drive radical collaboration between the Government and purpose-driven businesses.

“To help inspire broader societal change we need a clear focal point within government that we can turn to – both for support and to share our expertise of what works and doesn’t work at ground level.”

Unleashing the full power of businesses to tackle the UK’s biggest social and environmental challenges could be game-changing in helping to deliver the government’s missions and Plan for Change, including its growth mission.