Former business minister urges officials to roll out red carpet to convince Unilever to list ice cream arm in London

Sought after: Unilever wants to float its ice cream arm, promoted here by Eva Longoria

A former business minister has urged officials to roll out the red carpet to convince Unilever to list its ice cream arm in London.

Ministers and London Stock Exchange bosses should take an ‘activist approach’ to ensure the UK doesn’t miss out to Amsterdam or New York, Tory MP Greg Clark told the Daily Mail.

Six years ago, Clark was part of a charm offensive that persuaded the Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s maker not to move its headquarters from London to Rotterdam.

The company was forced to back down after a public backlash from shareholders.

Now, the consumer goods giant is holding talks with three exchanges over a potential float of its £15billion ice cream arm.

Clark, who was business minister from 2016 to 2019, said: ‘It was an important vote of confidence in the UK when Unilever chose London as its headquarters.

‘At the time, the Government and the LSE were persuasive in communicating to shareholders and to the Board the advantages of a London listing. I hope that they are taking a similarly activist approach with this opportunity.’

A float in the US or Netherlands would be a kick in the teeth to the embattled City as it already faces a wave of departing firms.

London is the home of Unilever’s listing and the birthplace of Wall’s, which started in an Acton factory in 1922. So far UK officials have not spared many details over how they plan to make the case for London.

But Unilever boss Hein Schumacher has confirmed there has been ‘regular updates with people in [UK] government’. But the Dutch government is confident it is a frontrunner due to commitments from Unilever in 2020 after it opted for the UK as its official base.

Last month Schumacher said he would look ‘at all the options’, and ‘dedicated project teams are progressing the work at pace’.

A decision will be taken over the next 18 months.

There are also fears a private equity predator will snap up the business.