Illustration: Reform UK/fried breakfast

Richard Tice has been repeatedly told he’s living on Fantasy Island when it comes to Reform UK’s plans for big tax cuts and a smaller state.

But at a recent breakfast, attended by bosses from industry group Water UK and supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, the party’s deputy leader was quick to highlight the plight faced by a theme park in his constituency of the same name.

Sky-high energy costs and Rachel Reeves’s £25bn National Insurance tax raid means Fantasy Island in Skegness is closed for two days a week.

That has shut the door on up to 30 summer jobs, with Tice accusing the Chancellor of being the fantasist by thinking she can grow the economy through higher taxation.

“It was a very specific point, but it highlights the madness of why this economy can’t grow,” says Tice.

“You have a theme park in a holiday resort in the middle of summer that’s shutting for two days a week. What does that tell you about the state of our economy, the state of our regulations, the state of our taxation, the state of the cost of energy? It’s a disaster.”

It was one of the many breakfasts that Tice has attended over the past few months with corporate Britain.

The breakfast in question was hosted by Sir Craig Oliver, Lord Cameron’s former communications tsar who now runs consultancy FGS Global.

Reform – which is leading in the polls – is following in the footsteps of Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, whose “prawn cocktail offensive” saw them step up efforts to win the backing of the Square Mile ahead of their 1997 landslide victory.

This time, however, the prawn cocktail has been swapped for bacon and eggs.

The breakfasts – which Tice says he had been hosting once a week ahead of the August break – start at 8am and are “done by 9.15am”. Businesses big and small are queuing up for a slice of the action.

“What I’m saying to people is, we’re for real,” says Tice. “The economy is in a terrible place. Regrettably, things are going to get worse before they get better. But under a Reform government, we know how to turn this around.”

Earlier this month, Tice was rubbing shoulders with property moguls. The party is now gearing up for its annual conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham next month.

Hundreds have paid £600 for “early bird” tickets that unlock access to a business reception and lounge area. For £25 extra they get to spend the night with Nigel Farage, the party’s leader, and other Reform MPs at an evening the event’s website promises will be a “lively night of drinks, dancing, and entertainment in great company”.

And it’s not just the usual lobby groups either. While the so-called “B5” business groups will all be in attendance, they’ll be accompanied by corporate affairs executives from some of the biggest companies in Britain.

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Even Octopus, the energy giant which has been a key player in the Government’s drive to hit net zero, is among those attending.

However, the full guest list is being tightly guarded, with the usually boisterous Tice suddenly finding his demure side when asked about attendees.Richard Tice is Reform UK’s deputy leader - Paul Grover

Reform insists that tickets are selling fast, although the head of one lobby group explains why some businesses have decided to give it a miss.

“Businesses are concerned that by going, they’ll be used as part of the Reform publicity machine,” they say. “And they don’t think it’ll actually be useful to go there because they won’t be able to influence, but they will get used for publicity. Instead, they are engaging with Reform on a more policy level, because we think the conference would be fairly policy light.”

For those businesses more willing to openly engage with Reform, the prospect of breakfast with Tice is proving more appealing than a late night boogie with Farage.

One public affairs official who represents the crypto industry says: “The overriding sense is [that] the conference is going to be more of a rally than a traditional conference. So with that in mind, companies are asking themselves if it’s worth buying stands and trying to invest in the fringe or actually, because of where we are in the election cycle – and with Reform still an insurgent party – is it better just to try to get in front of Reform?

“Then they can figure out how the party works, and then perhaps the next conference will be probably more of a bigger thing, particularly after the Scottish and Welsh elections.”

But businesses, think tanks and corporate executives are being told they should get on board quickly, or risk losing out on access to the party later.

One corporate executive has been warned that businesses face being “tiered” by the party unless they nail their colours to the mast and engage now.

However, a party source views it differently: “It’s just being honest that getting an understanding of us early is obviously a lot better than coming after next year’s devolved elections, getting bombarded and then us taking ages to get back to them.”

It’s clear that the party has big ambitions, but there also signs that Reform’s influence on government is already being felt.

British Steel, for example, is understood to be grateful that Farage and Tice made the trip up to Scunthorpe, donning their hard hats and safety goggles in an appeal to nationalise the plant just days before Parliament was recalled.Richard Tice and Nigel Farage visit British Steel in Scunthorpe - Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

“Executives at British Steel threw their arms open,” says one insider. “For them it was incredibly useful that Farage was the person calling for nationalisation, because he’s obviously of the ‘right’ and therefore more free market. As so often in life, things are more attractive when they’re cross-dressed.”

For all the hobnobbing, Tice is also putting attendees of his breakfast meetings to work.

Bosses have been tasked with compiling a list of their biggest bugbears and what Reform can do to fix them.

“I’m saying I want a three-pager, no more, with the regulatory problems affecting their industry and their recommended solutions,” he says. “We’re in listening mode.”

One thing that’s already in his sights are General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules that were supposed to protect personal data but in some cases have led to warnings about the dangers of sharing pictures of shoplifters.

“It’s an absolute catastrophe,” says Tice. “That’s the sort of thing that was well-intended but has turned into a complete nightmare. We’ve got to strike a whole load of this stuff down.”

Another recurring theme is the soaring cost of energy.

“We are only just seeing the beginning of the job losses,” Tice adds. “I’ve had a leading industrialist tell me that in this parliamentary term, there are at least a million industrial jobs at risk because of net stupid zero.”

Meanwhile, party donations keep flowing in, with £6m in new money registered since the start of last year.

Many donors have defected from the Tories, including property tycoon Nick Candy, who is now Reform’s treasurer.

Corporate donations are also increasing. Andrew Perloff, executive chairman at Aim-listed Panther Securities, recently proposed a donation of £25,000 alongside the company’s results.

“I still believe in the same principles of free enterprise,” says Perloff. “I was a Tory voter and a generous donor to the Conservative Party for many years, since the mid-1970s, but the Conservatives will not be forgiven for what they’ve done.

“Labour have started doing worse things, building on what the Conservatives opened the door to: squeezing the aspirational hard workers, the investors, the savers, people who’ve built up their own pension funds, they’ve crippled the pension fund industry.”

Perloff believes Farage is the only man able to turn things around.

“He is able to express the problems of millions of people – ordinary, hard-working people who find that the country isn’t quite as it should be. Rich ones who’ve already left the country because of the tax policies and a few who’ve left because they feel they’re not safe here any more.”

Perloff says he’s getting too old to go to party conferences, though Reform will continue to have his backing from afar.

“I’ve been invited. But I doubt I’ll be up to it,” he says. “It’s getting harder for me to get around to go to these places. And I’m 80 and I’m still working.”

What about his staff? Are they heading to Reform’s conference?

“Of course not,” he fires back. “They’ll be too busy working!”

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