The boss of one of the 海角视频鈥檚 biggest chambers of commerce has called on the Chancellor to make it easier for businesses to invest and grow as the economic recovery stalls.
With supply chain issues growing on a global and national level, and 海角视频 worker shortages creating new cost pressures, the boss of East Midlands Chamber said the Government must do what it can to incentivise, rather than put the brakes on, growth.
Ahead of Rishi Sunak鈥檚 2021 Autumn Statement chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said he would like to see new stimuli in areas such as better investment allowances, and discounting capital investments from business rate levels.
Earlier this month the chamber warned that concerns about the strength of the economy were rising among East Midlands businesses 鈥 despite the boost that came as big businesses opened following lockdown.
Worker shortages, notably in the HGV sector and warehousing, plus price pressures along with the new health and social care tax that increases the burden for employers and employees, threatened to dampen the recovery according to its latest quarterly business survey.
Today Mr Knowles said: 鈥淭he Autumn Budget comes at a very delicate time when the economic recovery is in the balance and we would urge the Chancellor to be mindful of the damage
the Government could cause by adding further costs to doing business, rather than encouraging them to invest in growth.
鈥淥ur Quarterly Economic Survey for Q3 2021 shows that although there were improvements across many indicators such as sales, cashflow, employment, confidence and investment intentions, key issues remain 鈥 not least with price pressures and access to required skills to fill job vacancies.
鈥淲e recognise there are a range of factors at play in terms of where the economy is currently at and it鈥檚 difficult to unpick short-term, temporary impacts from the longer-term, structural issues.
鈥淔or the vast majority of firms, we can鈥檛 introduce any new up-front taxes on top of the national insurance increase previously announced and expected increase to the national minimum wage.
鈥淥ur latest data suggests that growth in investment is slowing and not as high as we鈥檇 expect it to be at this point of the recovery.
鈥淭he Government needs to further incentivise companies through enhanced investment allowances, while discounting capital investments from business rate levels 鈥 particularly if these
are to support efficiencies and the sustainability agenda.
鈥淓xtending the Recovery Loan Scheme from December until the end of June will provide some support, but we would also ask for VAT to continue at a reduced 12.5 per cent rate for hospitality and leisure businesses for an extended period beyond April, when it is due to end.
鈥淲e welcome the Chancellor鈥檚 comments over the weekend that we鈥檒l learn more about plans to reform business rates and would expect to see a timeframe to deliver these changes as quickly as possible, given the importance this could have to town and city centres that have been hit hard during the pandemic.
鈥淪ome transport investment has already been announced in recent days and we are concerned at how the East Midlands 鈥 which already receives the lowest transport spend per head nationally 鈥 could once again miss out.
鈥淥f course, HS2 is the headline in this regard but there are other big ticket items affecting our
region鈥檚 road and rail infrastructure that will drive economic growth if they receive Government backing.
鈥淥ur region is mindful of the constant rhetoric about levelling up that comes out of the Prime Minister鈥檚 statements, and we will be keeping a careful eye on announcements around the Budget to determine whether this means anything tangible to the East Midlands.鈥
