By Jorn Madslien Business reporter, BBC News

I don't generally use violent language, but I can learn and I will do so if necessary

The handover of the CBI leadership from Sir Digby Jones to Richard Lambert marks a dramatic shift in style if not in substance for the business group.

Their views on whether Sir Alan Sugar and his BBC programme The Apprentice has been useful to business illustrate the point.

"Young people will be turned off because they think they will be shouted at by a horrible, fat, old, rich bloke," Sir Digby said in a recent Sunday Times interview.

Mr Lambert's views, expressed during an informal meeting with BBC News business journalists soon before his appointment, are less blunt.

"[The Apprentice] has been as useful to business the way Pop Idol has been useful to business," Mr Lambert quips.

Reflecting on how the CBI will change under his leadership, Mr Lambert is quick to concede that "we are very different people".

But although he has no intention of imitating Sir Digby's straight-talking approach, he is nevertheless keen to stress his admiration for his predecessor, and he insists he will not shy away from head-on attacks.

"I don't generally use violent language, but I can learn and I will do so if necessary," he vows.

Similar targets

So although the mood music is changing, the overriding themes will remain: The CBI will continue to campaign hard in areas where it believes change is vital to ensure that British business prospers, whether at home or internationally.

UK businesses face two critical international challenges: the unstoppable forces of the global economy and the rising threat of climate change Profile: Richard Lambert

Indeed, Mr Lambert will carry forward campaigns against red tape - such as restrictive planning procedures, which he believes make many a British firm leave while foreign investors stay away.

And he will lobby for improvements to the British road structure in order to oil the wheels of business.

Then there is the tax burden in the UK, which has "grown in recent years, particularly in the corporate sector", and thus made the UK "less competitive in a global market place".

The pensions battle will also rage on under Mr Lambert, who insists the government has "copped out" by failing to ensure the public and the private sectors operate on a level playing field.

And he will seek solutions to a skills shortages that are arising because "government policy has failed to raise the poor standards of achievement"

Global issues

Yet it is on the macroeconomic arena where Mr Lambert's allies expect him to shine.

Richard Lambert's CV History degree from Oxford University Joined Financial Times in 1966, editor from 1991 to 2001 Wrote a report on BBC News 24 Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, 2003-2006

Mr Lambert has been described as a "man of a formidable intellect", who - in his own words - is also "really, really, really interested in business".

As such, his ability to concisely communicate the concerns of business - whether small, medium-sized or large - in language often reserved for economists and the policy makers who consult them may well prove a killer combination.

The former Financial Times editor, who until recently served as a member of the Bank of England's interest rate setting Monetary Policy Committee, has already found that his lack of campaigning and lobbying experience is doing little to reduce the effectiveness of his efforts.

"I've already made a start," he says, and given that "the members of the CBI are a very forceful and influential constituency" he has not found it hard to get policy makers attention.

Mr Lambert is due to hit the ground running on his first official day in the job, when he will tell members of parliament that "UK businesses face two critical international challenges: the unstoppable forces of the global economy and the rising threat of climate change".

Related to this is the vast area of energy, and again Mr Lambert will not waste time in calling for the government to "put in place a clear and practical energy policy" when it announces the results of a much-awaited energy review later this month.