Member Article

The Autumn Statement: Business reactions from Yorkshire & the Humber

George Osborne gave his Autumn statement today, and Bdaily has collated some of the opinions of businesses and their organisations in the Yorkshire region on the Chancellor’s plan.

• STAMP DUTY

Tim West, tax partner at EY in Yorkshire and Humberside, said on Stamp Duty: “The message to voters was that they should ‘stay the course’, while the message to those in houses worth more than £1 million was to ‘stay put’. The reform to Stamp Duty will see a marginal rate of 12% for those with properties worth over £1.5 million, which may well be a real disincentive for those looking to move house and put a dampener on demand.”

Darren Stubbs, managing director of Yorkshire based housebuilder Stonebridge Homes said: “We have plenty of evidence that homebuyers are still finding it hard to secure a mortgage and the situation only got worse following the mortgage market review, with the resulting stricter guidelines.

“The changes to stamp duty are a welcome boost to the housebuilding industry, saving the buyer of the average house around £4,000. With the Northern housing market making a much softer recovery than the South East, any incentive from Number 11 is welcome.”

• SAVINGS - ISA’s to be transferable to partners tax free

Richard Giles, pensions partner at PwC in Leeds, said: “The abolition of the death tax on joint-life annuities will boost the attractiveness of annuities and level the playing field with income drawdown, but on its own it is unlikely to kick start a full scale return to the annuities market once the pensions freedoms come into force next April.”

• PERSONAL AND BUSINESS TAXATION - 25% tax on multi-nationals that are shifted out of the UK, set to raise £1 billion over 5 years, Bank profits which can be offset be losses for tax purposes to be limited to 50%
• BUSINESSES - £45 million support package for exporters, research and development tax and credit increased for SME’s. £200 million science hub

David Underwood who runs TaxAssist Accountants in Harrogate said: “Many local small businesses will also benefit from the abolition of employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices aged under 25, which will boost recruitment and training opportunities for young people, whilst the continued freeze on fuel duty is a clear benefit to business owners whose service is dependent on home deliveries.”

• DEVOLUTION

Tim Halstead, managing partner at Shulmans LLP, said: “It’s great to see a recognition of the value of Northern cities.

“I do worry though about the implication that we need to “bring together our great cities of the North” to make a difference, when cities such as Leeds and Manchester are already thriving cultural and business centres in their own right.”

Richard Wright, executive director of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, said: “We couldn’t agree more about the need to review business rates – this has been needed for a long time and we’ve been saying it for equally as long! Money could be collected in a much fairer way and more efficiently spent than it currently is.

“Devolution remains a key issue. If the Chancellor does grant similar powers to cities including Sheffield to become these northern powerhouses we welcome it - but point out the responsibility that comes with it. Can we deliver more by doing it ourselves than we would by central control?”

• SME fund boost: £1 billion boost to Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses through additional funding for the British Business Bank and the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme.

Giles Taylor, director of KPMG’s Corporate Finance team in Leeds said:“A general loosening of bank purse strings over the last 12 to 18 months, coupled with the support available from the likes of the British Business Bank and the Funding for Lending Scheme, means that access to finance is no longer the brick wall that it was at the height of the recession.

“Their message is loud and clear: business owners need support to free up their time, and obstacles to trade removed. Anything that eases this burden will ultimately drive economic growth, spur job creation and increase the competitiveness of the UK.”

• SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND for the North of England

Jeff Pearey, lead director North East at JLL said: “Harnessing the tax revenues of shale gas production in a Sovereign Wealth Fund will ensure that any economic benefit from onshore energy production is ploughed directly back into our infrastructure.

“It’s exactly this kind of strategic thinking we need to see if we’re to believe the Chancellor’s vision of a northern powerhouse is more than pre-election vote courting.”

• HOUSING/INFRASTRUCTURE - Already announced £1.5 billion spending on roads, £2 billion for flood defence schemes.

Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, Roger Marsh, said: “Small and medium-sized enterprises make up over 99% of the Leeds City Region’s business population, so I welcome the support announced today to boost their productivity, particularly the confirmation of support for exports, innovation and business rates relief.

“A better transport network is central to our plans for growth so we welcome the extra investment in our road network and the opportunity to work with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to improve road and rail links to the Leeds Bradford International Airport.

Mike Danby, CEO of Bradford-based Advanced Supply Chain, one of the London Stock Exchange’s ’1000 companies to inspire Britain’, said: “The announcement of the biggest road building plan in a generation, £15bn worth will go some way to improving British transport infrastructure - a crucial element of a successful economy. Roads have suffered from poor investment for too long.

“It will be interesting to see how this breaks down regionally, and if the Government plays politics with where the money will be spent rather than focusing the money where it is truly needed. We have also been promised road improvements by many past governments that have never come to fruition.”

Paul Beasley, joint CEO of Brighouse-based international recruitment consultancy Transline Group, which has offices in Thailand, Romania, Poland and Canada, said: “Stimulating the UK export market is a core challenge for the Government. Rebalancing the economy has been a big policy drive for Cameron and Osborne, but more needs to be done if they are to meet the target of doubling the UK’s exports by 2020.

“We will have to see if today’s announcement of a £45m package to help support export to emerging markets, and support for new exporters, will have a significant impact on this.”

Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce spokesperson said: “We are pleased to see the Treasury has also said it will guarantee £500-million of bank lending to small and medium-sized businesses and pledged £400-million to extend a Government-backed venture capital funding scheme for SMEs.

The extension of the Funding for Lending Scheme to boost bank lending to firms is also being extended for another year with the focus being put on smaller businesses, which we hope help some of our smaller Chamber members get the finance they need to grow and expand.“

Gordon Millward, FSB regional chairman said: “The FSB is delighted to see the double small business rate relief remain for another year and a full review of the outdated business rates system, something we’ve long argued for.

“The £400 million released to back the British Business Bank and an extension to the Funding for Lending scheme will provide much needed cash for small businesses.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .