UPDATE 1-UK PM, finance minister to meet business leaders on COVID recovery

(Adds company names, further details)

LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson and
finance minister Rishi Sunak will ask 30 business leaders on
Monday for their thoughts on economic policy, part of efforts to
explore ways of boosting growth in Britain outside the European
Union.

After completing Britain's journey out of the EU on Dec. 31,
Johnson, a figurehead of the Brexit campaign, is talking to
businesses about policy ideas to boost growth now that the
country is no longer bound by the bloc's rules.

This is seen as increasingly pressing because the
coronavirus pandemic, which has flared again largely because of
a highly contagious new variant, has plunged Britain into a
worse economic slump than almost all of its peers.

Alongside Sunak, Johnson will speak to the leaders of some
of Britain's largest companies, including British Airways, BT,
pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline and the country's biggest
carmaker, Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover.

"The council later today is co-chaired by the prime minister
and the chancellor and it will be an opportunity for members to
share their views on the economy and provide a perspective on
policy in terms of the economic recovery as we move through, and
hopefully out of the pandemic," Johnson's spokesman said.

The government is also setting up a "better regulation
committee", also chaired by Sunak, which will review regulation
in Britain now the country is outside the European Union to try
to better stimulate growth and attract new investment.

Last week, the government denied a report that it was
planning to lower standards on workers' rights, but some
officials say ministers are looking at ways to "capitalise" on
being able to diverge from EU rules and regulations.

Some sources have suggested that ministers are looking at
ways to boost investment in green and new technology, by pooling
together research scientists and product developers in certain
regions to replicate a kind of Silicon Valley.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Estelle Shirbon)