September
2025
Business Appointment Application: Baron Petitgas,
of Bosham (Franck Robert Petitgas), former Special
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Business and Investment. Paid appointment with
Blackstone Inc.
1. Lord Petitgas sought advice from the
Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the
government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Crown Servants (the Rules)
on a paid appointment he wishes to take up with Blackstone Inc (Blackstone) as
Vice Chairman/ Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Europe.
2. The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the
government. The Committee has considered the risks associated with the actions
and decisions taken during Lord Petitgas’ time in
office, alongside the information and influence he may offer Blackstone. The
material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in
the annex.
3. The Committee's advice is not an endorsement of the appointment
– it imposes a number of conditions to mitigate the potential risks to the
government associated with the appointment under the Rules.
4. The Rules set out that Crown servants must abide by the
Committee’s advice[1]. It
is an applicant's personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any
appointment. Former Crown servants are expected to uphold the highest standards
of propriety and act in accordance with the 7 Principles of Public Life.
The Committee’s
consideration of the risks presented
5. Blackstone is an American global investment company. It manages
a diversified portfolio across private equity, real estate, credit,
infrastructure and other investments including in the life sciences,
technology, and energy sectors. Aside from investment activities, it also
provides financial and strategic advisory services through its advisory arm,
Blackstone Advisory Partners. Lord Petitgas said his
role as Vice Chairman of Blackstone Europe would be region-wide and not UK
centric - involving general networking and acting as a sounding board across
Blackstone Inc for the purposes of offering advice on strategy, organisation
and delivery.
6. Lord Petitgas had official dealings
with Blackstone while in office – inviting it to group business cultivation events
and the No.10 business engagement framework, alongside other leading private
sector companies. It is more than likely he was involved in decisions aimed at
promoting business and investment into the UK. Whilst at No.10 Lord Petigas was not responsible for any commercial, regulatory,
or policy decisions specific to Blackstone or the sector it operates in.
Therefore, the Committee[2]
considered the risk he could reasonably be seen to have been offered this
role as a reward for decisions or actions taken in office was low.
7. Given Lord Petitgas’ former role at
No.10, he would have had access to general sensitive information, including
that which relates to businesses such as Blackstone. For example, privileged
information about the previous government’s legislative and policy programme in
the area that Blackstone operates. The Committee agreed with the Cabinet Office
that the risks associated with his access to information are limited because:
●
It has been over a year since Lord Petitgas
left office and there has been a change of government since. This has included
a change in policy direction including fiscal decisions significantly affecting
business in the UK. This provides a gap between his access to information and
him taking up this appointment, and limits its usefulness.
●
The Cabinet Office confirmed he did not have access to privileged
information specific to Blackstone that could be considered to offer Blackstone
an unfair advantage.
●
As a Special Adviser, Lord Petitgas’
role precluded direct responsibility or decision-making on contractual or
commercial work – limiting his access to information on sensitive commercial
matters.
8. The risk regarding Lord Petitgas’
access to information is most likely to arise should he advise Blackstone or
its clients on matters that directly overlap with
his time at No.10. This is particularly relevant given his role
includes advising across Blackstone Inc, which could include Blackstone
Advisory Partners whose clients are unknown. Whilst limited for the reasons
above, this could risk his offering an unfair advantage to Blackstone should he
be asked to advise on matters he had material involvement in whilst at No.10.
9. There are also risks associated with Lord Petitgas’s
influence and contacts gained whilst in office within government. In
particular, he might be seen to make unfair use of this network for investment
purposes and/or facilitating the scaling of companies in which Blackstone
invests. Further, Blackstone may have an interest in government policy,
regulation and possibly contracts to support its investment interests. Lord Petitgas confirmed his role will not include any lobbying
of, or advocacy contact with government; and any contact initiated by
government will be attended alongside Blackstone Public Affairs and will not
involve discussion of live or prospective UK transactions or policy matters.
10.Lord Petitgas will have contacts
outside government that will be directly relevant to Blackstone, particularly
within the global and UK business community. His role involves leveraging his
contacts to build the business and offering advice on doing so. If he were to
use his contacts gained at No.10 but outside of government – for example in
industry or in other governments – to do so, this would risk making use of his
privileged network. The Committee considered this risk significantly limited
given Lord Petitgas’ extensive experience and
contacts gained during his well-established career in financial services prior
to his role in government.
11. Lord Petitgas entered government
following an extensive career in financial services, which has been a relevant
consideration throughout.
The Committee’s advice
12.The Committee determined the risks identified can be
appropriately mitigated by the conditions below. These make it clear that Lord Petitgas should not make use of privileged information,
contacts or influence gained from his time in Crown service to the unfair
advantage of Blackstone.
13.To mitigate the risk associated with advising unknown clients –
should these overlap with his responsibilities and access to information in
office, the Committee has advised he must not work on matters he had a specific
role in developing or determining during his time at No.10.
14.The Committee’s advice, under the government’s Business
Appointment Rules, that this role with Blackstone Inc should be subject
to the following conditions:
●
he should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself
or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged
information available to him from his time in Crown service;
●
for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not
become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or its arm’s length
bodies on behalf of Blackstone Inc (including parent companies, subsidiaries,
partners and clients); nor should he make use, directly or indirectly, of his
contacts in the government and/or Crown service contacts to influence policy,
secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage Blackstone Inc
(including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients);
●
for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not
provide advice to Blackstone Inc (including parent companies, subsidiaries,
partners and clients) on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of,
a bid with, or contract relating directly to the work of the UK government or
its arm’s length bodies;
●
for two years from his last day in Crown service, he must not
advise Blackstone Inc (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners,
investees and clients) on any work with regard to any policy or operational
matter which he had a material role in developing or determining as Special
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Business and Investment, or where he had a
material relationship with the company or organisation during his time in this
role; and
●
for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not
become personally involved in lobbying contacts he developed during his time in
Crown service in other governments and external organisations for the purpose
of securing business/investments for Blackstone Inc (including parent companies,
subsidiaries and partners).
15.The advice and the conditions under the government's Business
Appointment Rules relate to his previous role in government only; they are
separate from rules administered by other bodies such as the Office of the
Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
and the Registrar of Lords’ Interests.[3] Lord Petitgas
is reminded that as a Member of the House of Lords he is
prevented from any paid lobbying under the House of Lords Code of Conduct. It
is an applicant’s personal responsibility to understand any other rules and
regulations they may be subject to in parallel with this Committee’s advice.
16.By ‘privileged information’ we mean official information to
which a Minister or Crown servant has had access as a consequence of his or her
office or employment and which has not been made publicly available. Applicants
are also reminded that they may be subject to other duties of confidentiality,
whether under the Official Secrets Act, the Civil Service Code or otherwise.
17.The Business Appointment Rules explain that the restriction on
lobbying means that the former Crown servant/minister ‘should not engage in
communication with government (ministers, civil servants, including special
advisers, and other relevant officials/public office holders) – wherever it
takes place – with a view to influencing a government decision, policy or
contract award/grant in relation to their own interests or the interests of the
organisation by which they are employed, or to whom they are contracted or with
which they hold office’.
18.Lord Petitgas must inform us as soon
as he takes up employment with this organisation, or if it is announced that he
will do so; he must also inform us if he proposes to extend or otherwise change
the nature of his role as, depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary
for him to make a fresh application.
19.Once the appointment has been publicly announced or taken up
this advice will be published.
Yours sincerely,
Samantha Ria Shahriar
Committee Secretariat
Annex – Material Information
The organisation
1. Blackstone is an American global investment firm. According to
its website, it is one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers, where
it manages a diversified portfolio across: private equity; real estate; credit;
infrastructure; and other investments including life sciences, technology, and
energy. As of 2023, it has assets under management of over $1 trillion[4] and its client base
includes sovereign wealth funds, public and corporate pension funds, insurance
companies, endowments, and funds of funds. Alongside its investment activities,
it also provides financial and strategic advisory services through its advisory
arm, Blackstone Advisory Partners. This includes providing advice on
restructuring, reorganisation and fund placement.
2. Blackstone Europe is headquartered in London. Its investment
focus is across Blackstone’s core lines (private equity, real estate, credit
and infrastructure), with activity in various European sectors which include
real estate assets, portfolio companies in multiple industries, and European
infrastructure assets. Given its wide portfolio, it has invested in the UK real
estate and across various sectors that hold contracts with HMG[5].
Blackstone has also recently pledged £100bn investment in UK assets over the
next decade.[6]
3. Blackstone has previously retained the services of registered
consultant lobbyist, Hanbury Strategy, on two occasions in 2021 and 2022.[7]
The role
4. Lord Petitgas said he will be acting
as the Senior Managing Director with the title of ‘Vice Chairman’ for
Blackstone Europe. He said his role will be region-wide and not UK-centric and
will involve general networking and functioning as a sounding board across
Blackstone to offer advice on strategy, organisation and delivery.
5. Lord Petitgas said there will be no
advocacy contact with government in this role. He said that any informational
meetings requested by government will be attended alongside Blackstone Public
Affairs and will not involve discussion of live or prospective UK transactions
or policy matters. He confirmed he will not lobby government in this role, nor
advise others on lobbying UK ministers, officials or special advisers on behalf
of Blackstone or any Blackstone portfolio company. He stated that he will seek
clearance under the Business Appointment Rules before taking up any board seat
or assignment that involves substantive UK government interaction.
6. For completeness, he told the Committee that the salary he will
receive contains no performance-based element linked to UK government decisions
and confirmed that he will neither directly or indirectly lobby government on
behalf of Blackstone or any Blackstone portfolio company.
7. Lord Petigas’ career has been in
investment banking, notably in mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. He
said he ran Global Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley during his 30 year
career at the firm, for which Blackstone is a client.He retired from Morgan Stanley in 2022 but
stayed on as a senior adviser to the company until joining the government.
Dealings in office
8. Lord Petitgas advised the Committee
that he met with Blackstone while in office, having known about the
organisation as an industry leader. He said he invited Blackstone to attend
group business cultivation events, including the Global Investment Summit in
October 2023 and private equity firm engagement sessions. He said he met
Blackstone on the same frequency and terms as other major private‑equity firms while in
office.
9. Lord Petitgas said that Blackstone
was one of many leading businesses he brought into the No. 10 business
engagement framework.
10.Lord Petitgas said he was not
involved in any commercial or contractual decisions relating to Blackstone or
any relevant policy development or decisions that would have affected
Blackstone or its competitors on a sector-wide basis. Neither did he consider
he had any access to sensitive information of relevance.
11. Lord Petitgas said he met with
potential competitors while in office, as the nature of his role in government
included conducting regular business engagement with the private equity
industry, given its importance as investors and employers in the UK. Lord Petitgas did not consider he had access to commercially
sensitive information about competitors.
Department assessment
12.The Cabinet Office confirmed the information Lord Petitgas provided above.
13.The department stated that given Lord Petitgas’
role was to advise the Prime Minister in his role as Special Adviser on
Business and Investment, it is likely that he was exposed to a wide range of
privileged information about the previous government. For example, information
about the previous government’s legislative and policy programme in the area
that Blackstone operates in. The Cabinet Office noted the time since Lord Petitgas was in government (now over 12 months) and the
change of government. The department said it was unlikely therefore he would
hold privileged information that could confer a significant competitive
advantage to Blackstone.
14.The Cabinet Office
recommended standard conditions.
[1] Which apply by virtue of the Civil Service Management
Code, The Code of Conduct for Special
Advisers, The King’s Regulations and the Diplomatic Service Code.
[2] This application for advice was considered by Isabel
Doverty; Hedley Finn OBE; Michael Prescott; and The Baroness Thornton. Sarah de
Gay and Dawid Konotey-Ahulu CBE DL were unavailable.
[3] All Peers and Members of Parliament are prevented
from paid lobbying under the House of
Commons Code of Conduct and the Code of Conduct for Members of the House
of Lords. Advice on your obligations
under the Code can be sought from the Parliamentary Commissioners for
Standards, in the case of MPs, or the
Registrar of Lords’ Interests, in the case of peers.
[4] Blackstone Becomes First $1 Trillion Private Equity
Manager - The New York Times.
[5] U.K.-Based Gov Tech Firm Civica Acquired by
Blackstone and PM tells US investors "Britain is open for business"
as he secured major £10 billion deal to drive growth and create jobs - GOV.UK .
[6] Blackstone to pledge £100bn UK investment during
Trump visit | Money News.
[7] Hanbury Strategy and Communications Limited - ORCL.