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Dear Member,

The talking is over, the PR machine moves on and the first Labour Party Budget in 14 years, and importantly the first ever delivered by a female Chancellor of the Exchequer, is out in the public domain.

We knew it was going to be tough on businesses and it really was. Despite some protection for smaller firms around business rates and National Insurance thresholds, the budget was clear in that it expected businesses to do the heavy lifting on filling the £40bn black hole in public finances and these layered costs will all now appear on the bottom line of businesses overheads. Higher national insurance contributions, increase to the minimum wage, increases to Capital Gains Tax and the strengthening of employee rights all mean that these new costs will either need to be passed on to the consumer, or found elsewhere within the business.

Some bigger businesses may be able to absorb these costs, but for their supply chain and for those 100,000’s of hospitality, leisure and minimum wage industries we have to hope that these extra costs don’t prove critical.

Coventry and Warwickshire businesses have been desperate for a long-term plan, for stability and to have confidence that we were moving in the right direction. There are glimmers of this in the Budget. We welcome the corporation tax roadmap, the OBRs 10-year analysis of the Chancellors’ policies and we hope this is the end of stop and start planning and that this hit is the last in this parliament.

The flexibility to pump money into infrastructure projects is particularly welcome and a focus on Electric Vehicles and Gigaparks should be especially important to the West Midlands. The Industrial Strategy will be incredibly important to our region as we are packed with innovators, digital leaders and net zero champions and we need a plan to help them diversify and scale up.

In Coventry & Warwickshire we have a particular challenge and that is making sure our unique geography that stretches across two devolved areas, across a City Council, 5 District Councils and a County Council is represented and championed at every level.

Our businesses, universities, colleges, residents and workers move and trade across these boundaries every day and the strength of our local economy is testament to this remarkable collaboration.

As we move into a new era of government and growth, we need to make sure that Coventry & Warwickshire is seen as a strong, diverse and brilliant economic geography – not as two parts, but as an economic region that is helping to drive the West Midlands economy forward. Together we need to make sure we get the investment and powers we need to unleash our incredible potential.

All of this, and much more, will be discussed at our Annual Business and Economic Conference 2024, taking place at the IXL Events Centre on the 8th November. I’m really excited that our Keynote Speaker will be entrepreneur, investor, business coach and former Dragon on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, Piers Linney.

I would also encourage all businesses & community organisations to consider entering in a category for the Coventry & Warwickshire Business and Community Awards 2025! We’ve got 10 amazing categories, and you need to submit your entry by Friday 6th December 2024 to be in with a chance. We’re excited to find out who will be crowned the winners in March 2025!

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C&W in Business is produced on behalf of Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce by Benham Publishing Limited and is distributed to members free of charge. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in C&W in Business, neither Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, nor the publisher can accept responsibility for any omissions or inaccuracies it contains. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Chamber.