Lukewarm reaction to spring Budget

David Burton, of Spencer Gardner Dickins, said: “The West Midlands investment zone could be important for our region and it would be great if we can be part of that.

“On the investment allowance, we are back to 100 per cent and, I guess, that is as good as it gets.”

Neil Curtis, of Net Visibility, said: “The returnerships plan is interesting and I’d certainly welcome incentives to bring people in their 50s and 60s into the office.”

Gavin Bates, of Smart Business Recovery, said: “It was good to hear positive news on capital allowances. I would imagine that they have staggered the increased support on childcare to give them time to get the staff to be able to offer the additional places.”

Roger Scott, of Lloyds Bank, said: “There was a great deal for those businesses who can afford to invest but I don’t believe there was a huge amount for ordinary SMEs who need to cut costs of day-to-day business.”

Sean Rose, head of policy at the Chamber, said: “It’s very welcome to hear policies designed to get more people back into the workplace but, as ever, the devil will be in the detail that emerges later.”

Business leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire gave a lukewarm reaction to the Chancellor’s Budget.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce held a roundtable event, supported by Prime Accountants Group, at the Telegraph Hotel in Coventry to hear the views of businesses on the Chancellor’s statement.

Jeremy Hunt MP announced that the UK was expected to avoid a technical recession in 2023 before growing by 1.8 per cent in 2024. He also revealed that inflation is set to fall to 2.9 per cent by December.

He described it as a Budget for Growth and confirmed free childcare support will be widened, extended household energy assistance and revamped the amount savers can have in their pensions before being taxed, with policies aimed at increasing investment and encouraging more people back into work.

Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Chancellor made all of the right noises at the beginning of the Budget as he talked about providing stability and growth.

“The Chamber has been calling for support to help businesses recruit and there were plenty of announcements around that. In terms of enticing over-50s back into the workplace, it was high on the agenda, but whether there was actually enough in reality to get people to get back into work remains to be seen.

“The childcare support is genuinely exciting and that could be a really big deal – it’s just a real shame that it is going to be staged until 2025 because, as we know from speaking to so many firms, there is a real need now.

“There was something really important about the sentiment at the top of the budget in terms of avoiding recession and getting inflation down. That is good for confidence and it also gives businesses a little more certainty as they look to plan.

“The changes to R&D Tax Credits puts an onus on businesses to be spending 40 per cent on R&D which is a large chunk of money and won’t apply to the vast majority of firms. There’s no real encouragement for many businesses to invest in R&D based on that.

“Of course, the potential for the investment zone in the West Midlands obviously caught our attention and it’s important that Coventry and Warwickshire benefits from that.”

Steve Harcourt, of Prime Accountants Group, said: “Overall, it was a budget for the long term rather than for some of the shorter term issues. The super deduction was not maintained and we are back to a 100 per cent capital allowance. There wasn’t much in there to encourage businesses to invest in green tech although there were big announcements around carbon capture.”

Paislei Godley, of Prime Accountants Group, said: “It wasn’t very exciting from a tax point of view but we will need to see the full detail on capital allowances and R&D tax credits to see what impact they will have.”

Kate Hunter, of Bear Cleaning & Waste Management, said: “From a confidence point of view, it was positive to hear that there will be no technical recession. It’s a big sigh of relief for businesses. We were also pleased that fuel duty has been frozen, that is good news for our business.”

Olivia Parrish, of Leap People Solutions, said: “The childcare support is welcome but the fact that it’s not coming in fully until 2025 is a shame. There was a real emphasis on how much this would help women get back into work and, in my view, there has to be a culture shift around that and a change in thinking around shared parental leave that just isn’t working.”