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Rachel Reeves delivered the first Labour Budget in 14 years and also the first ever by a female Chancellor this lunchtime.

In a lengthy speech, she promised to "invest, invest, invest" while announcing a slew of tax changes - but also some tax freezes - which she says will increase revenue to the Exchequer by £40 billion.

Among the many headlines is an increase in National Insurance contributions for employers, by 1.2 per cent to 15 per cent from next April, which is expected to generate an additional £25 billion per year.

There will also be an increase in Capital Gains Tax, a freeze on fuel duty next year and the long-trailed introduction of VAT on private school fees from January.

The current freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds will not be extended beyond 2028 while the national minimum wage is also set to increase.

Click through here for a handy summary of the key points in today's Budget.

Business leaders from across the West Midlands have been giving their live reaction as the news comes in.

Nick Wright, tax director at Solihull accountancy firm Jerroms Miller, said: "Following months of speculation about the potential scrapping of business asset disposal relief, the decision to keep it is certainly an anticlimax but it will undoubtedly be welcomed by many.

"We will see increases in the rate from April 2025 to 14 per cent and a further increase from April 2026 to 18 per cent.

"I expect we will still see business owners looking to take advantage of the current ten per cent rate over the next five months where possible.

"Keeping business asset disposal relief provides a significant financial incentive for investment and business growth which is positive for ongoing entrepreneurship and the growth of the economy."

Mitchell Barnes is chief executive of Warwickshire-based Ryse 3D, a specialist in production 3D printing for hypercar projects and aerospace, medical and renewables clients.

He said: "It's a budget that unfortunately I think we were all expecting and has done little to reassure businesses that Labour understands what the economy is all about.

"We're a high-tech company which exports globally and should be the poster boy for what ‘growth' looks like yet I find myself questioning whether the Government actually wants firms like Ryse 3D based here.

"There's no question we will succeed but it will be despite policy, tax rises and worker reforms which will shackle employers and force us to consider investment and recruitment decisions going forward.

"The Capital Gains Tax increase will simply turn future entrepreneurs off. Where is the incentive to take risk, where is the incentive to put so many hours into growing something."

Raj Kandola, director of external affairs at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said there was no getting away from the fact businesses would bear the biggest brunt in tax rises as the Chancellor attempted to strike the right balance between fiscal responsibility and driving investment.

"Raising the rate and lowering the threshold for employers National Insurance will ultimately hit those employing lower paid workers," he said.

"Coupled with the increase in the National Living Wage and other measures associated with the Make Work Pay agenda, many firms will continue to suffer from crippling cost pressures as data from our latest Quarterly Business Report underlines.

"There were measures announced that will be welcomed by businesses - particular rate relief for those operating the retail, hospitality and leisure industry and a continued freeze on fuel duty.

"Ultimately, the Chancellor could have gone further to bring down price pressures and encourage firm level investment such as offering a fundamental overhaul of the business rates system and extending the full expensing scheme to leased assets.

"It was pleasing to see the Government commit to deliver HS2 to London Euston - we can only hope they take the pragmatic step of safeguarding the land beyond Birmingham to Manchester in order to revisit this part of the project when the fiscal picture improves."

Click through here for more Autumn Budget 2024 stories:

- Rachel Reeves announces £40bn tax hike, addressing inherited economic challenges

- Chancellor announces £3 billion fuel duty freeze amidst economic challenges

- Rachel Reeves gives major HS2 and Transpennine upgrade updates in Budget

- Chancellor announces major investment in º£½ÇÊÓƵ tech and creative sectors in Autumn Budget

Russell Luckock, the former head of Birmingham engineering firm AE Harris and a regular columnist in our sister paper the Birmingham Post, said: "One of the fastest deliveries of a budget that I have ever seen - quicker even than Gordon Brown.

"Glad to see the measures that will assist business in the West Midlands, sad to get confirmed that the new minimum wage will rise by 6.7 per cent and the younger age group by circa 16 per cent. Coupled with employer's National Insurance contributions, costs for business will not help competitiveness.

"Pleased to see commitment to the swifter payment of compensation to the contaminated blood suffers and the sub-postmasters Horizon scandal.

"Health boards will be pleased to hear about more money coming in their direction but this is a huge tax raising Budget the ramifications of which will be felt in the years to come."

Lyle Bignon works as an ambassador for the night-time economy (NTE) in Birmingham and called the Budget an "act of wilful vandalism" as far as the sector was concerned.

"Rather than delivering the change, renewal and investment promised, Rachel Reeves has instead directly snubbed small- and medium-sized businesses working in culture, hospitality and the NTE across the country," he said.

"As we saw from Starmer's speech in Birmingham earlier this week, today's announcement and the Cabinet's failure to engage with the NTE in any meaningful way to date, we can only assume that the Government is intentionally ignoring our plight.

"A penny off our pints and move to a 40 per cent business rate relief from 75 per cent is tokenistic at best and offensive at worst. The irony of the PM enjoying hospitality at our arenas and stadiums yet ignoring calls from the industry has not been lost on us.

"We do, of course, welcome more support for workers via the increase of the national minimum wage, reforms to the Carer's Allowance and basic pension changes. This suggests the potential for more disposable income across the country.

"However, without any significant interventions or significant investment to offset the 15 per cent hike in employers' National Insurance contributions and other financial squeezes, today's Budget essentially condemns our SMEs to a slow and painful death."

Steven McCabe is a political economist and lecturer at Birmingham City University's business school.

"Starmer's visit to Birmingham on Monday explaining that his government will create financial order by stabilising the economy, fix the foundations and restore hope that the future will be better was a prelude to today's budget," he said.

"Any optimism that he might indicate additional financial assistance would be forthcoming for Birmingham - a city whose council declared itself bankrupt just over a year ago - was misplaced.

"Birmingham, undergoing a painful transition from a city of manufacturing to services could do with a helping hand at present.

"That the minimum wage will increase will assist those working in hospitality and the night-time economy. Pubs, restaurants and clubs have been under intense pressure since the pandemic and closures are all too frequent.

"Culture is a crucial feature of any region and today's budget suggests it's still seen as something of a ‘Cinderella' sector that will survive on its ingenuity and ability to create new opportunities.

"Unfortunately, as those at the sharp end will attest, like the mythical character, it needs love and care to allow it to flourish."

Peter Connolly, publican and founder-director of independent bar and music venue Nortons Digbeth in Birmingham, said: "In all, a very disappointing budget for small businesses, hospitality and the high street.

"While industry voices have been ambitiously lobbying for a VAT reduction for hospitality, those of us who were more pessimistic had focused our concerns on the reduction in business rates relief.

"What the Chancellor has offered today is better than the ‘cliff-edge' of business rate relief being removed altogether, moving from a 75 per cent reduction to a 40 per cent reduction represents a very sharp increase in rates payable for small and independent businesses like ours.

"There's no confirmation on what the ‘permanently lower business rates' are from 2026-2027 for the hospitality businesses fortunate enough to survive until then.

"For us, moving from 25 per cent to 60 per cent rates payable represents a cost of over £20,000 to find very quickly at a time when our customers - the public - have little to no disposable income as it is."

Vipul Sheth, managing director of Coventry-based Advancetrack, has described the employers' National Insurance rise of 1.2 per cent, as "a big blow to businesses of all sizes".

He warned that it could force difficult decisions, such as reduced hiring and benefit cuts which risk impacting livelihoods across the workforce.

"The Chancellor's announcement is a big blow to º£½ÇÊÓƵ businesses of all sizes who are already grappling with a range of escalating costs," he said.

"At a time when companies are still recovering from recent hikes in corporation tax, this additional burden risks undermining growth, job creation and stability in an already fragile economy.

"By placing the burden squarely on employers, the Government is overlooking the real-world impact on both businesses and employees."

He added: "The Chancellor's plans to increase Capital Gains Tax are, quite frankly, shocking.

"This new Government seems overly focused on making those with the broadest shoulders bear the heaviest burdens but they are forgetting a crucial point: it's these very people - successful business owners and investors - who are responsible for creating jobs and driving economic growth for º£½ÇÊÓƵ plc."

Sarah Moorhouse, chief executive of Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said businesses in the area would welcome the Chancellor's commitment to restoring economic stability and increasing investment.

However she warned that Chamber members would be bracing themselves for the impact of increased taxation.

She said: "Today's Budget will concern businesses as they prepare for the drop to the employers' National Insurance thresholds and increases in their employer National Insurance contributions.

"Local surveys and recent feedback from our members confirmed that companies had adopted a wait-and-see approach to investing ahead of the Budget as they expected to see increased taxation impact their companies.

"However, the freeze on fuel duty will be welcomed and businesses will also welcome the announcement of a 'modern industrial strategy' along with nearly £1 billion for the aerospace sector, more than £2 billion for the automotive sector and up to £520 million for a new Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing fund.

"We hope they can analyse the details of the Budget after weeks of speculation, they will be encouraged to move forward knowing more of the impact."

Businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire will 'take the hit' of the Chancellor's Budget in the hope that it leads to long-term stability and growth in the economy.

Corin Crane, chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "We all knew that taxes were going to go up and that businesses were going to take the hit on that.

"There will be some concerns out there and certain sectors - such as leisure and hospitality - that are already struggling will really feel the weight of some of those tax rises and cost increases.

"The pay off, we all hope, is that the promise to invest, invest, invest is the catalyst for economic growth and that will then be felt by businesses right across the region."

Steve Harcourt is a director of Prime Accountants which has offices in Coventry, Birmingham and Solihull.

He said: "It was always going to be a tough first Budget and we were all expecting there to be some hard medicine to swallow.

"But there was also a strong hint of optimism with it and we have to ensure that we're there to support the businesses who might be hit by the changes and ensure that, in this area, we build on the strength of our regional economy and make the most of that investment that has been promised."

James Dickens, managing director of Birmingham-based housebuilder Wavensmere Homes, said: "The economic cost of Reeves' 'balancing the books' first Budget will be felt by the pockets of all those looking to move onto or up the property ladder and by the housebuilders vying to deliver energy-efficient new homes. Her tax-raising package is bigger than any for a generation.

"The OBR has made some downgrades to the forecasts for GDP growth but if CPI inflation doesn't drop to a two per cent average until 2029, then the era of ultralow interest rates is a thing of the past.

"Maintaining the Freeze on Income Tax thresholds until 2028 will bring in £7bn in additional ‘stealth tax' revenue. The significant hike in Capital Gains Tax is being applied to the sale of shares and businesses, but not buy-to-lets or second homes which are being hit by a five per cent Stamp Duty surcharge.

"This will disenfranchise landlords and will result in far less attainable homes to rent available in the marketplace."

Will Ventham, head of property consultancy CBRE's Birmingham office, said: "Receipt of an integrated settlement from the government will hopefully give West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker the funding needed to deliver on his plans for the region.

"New transport and infrastructure projects, more homes and investment in post-16 skills are among his priorities.

"For the West Midlands property sector, improving transport, site infrastructure and connectivity along with up-skilling the workforce are fundamental to continuing to attract investors to the region.

"I hope the funding allocation is meaningful, allowing the mayor to make significant and speedy inroads into his growth ambitions."

Referring to the update on high-speed rail project HS2, he added: "The Chancellor has finally put the indecision over the Birmingham to London HS2 link to bed.

"Confirmation that the line will terminate at Euston means passengers will be delivered right into the heart of London and provides easy access to Birmingham from the capital.

"HS2, along with the on-going development of Birmingham Airport to increase its capacity, is proving a major draw for inward investors in the city region. A seamless and integrated regional transport network is within sight."

Nicola Fleet-Milne runs Birmingham property agency FleetMilne and is also chairwoman of the Colmore Business Improvement District.

She said: "The announcement of 40 per cent business rates relief to the retail, hospitality, and leisure sector is a welcome sign and we are pleased a scheme has been retained.

"However, we do not believe this goes far enough to support the sector that is increasingly under pressure in our city of Birmingham and beyond."

On HS2, she added: "We are pleased to see the investment of tunnelling works promised in today's Autumn Budget, from Old Oak Common to London Euston, ensuring that HS2 connects Birmingham city centre to the centre of London.

"While the unnecessary delays are frustrating for businesses and workers that rely so greatly on Birmingham's locality to the capital, we are encouraged to see this issue directly addressed in today's announcement."

Michele Wilby, chief executive of Colmore Business Improvement District, said: "While we welcome the increases to minimum wage and the freeze to National Insurance for employees, we are concerned by the significant reduction in the NI threshold for those on lower wages.

"We are, however, pleased to see some relief for small businesses, many of which operate in Colmore Business District."

On fuel duty, she added: "We welcome the fuel duty freeze, recognising the positive impact this will have, especially for Birmingham's hospitality businesses.

"However, we hope the government will continue to commit to reducing carbon in other ways to offset this."