Member Article

Coventry and Warwickshire business leaders give their verdict on the Autumn Statement

Local business leaders have responded to the chancellor’s Autumn Statement at an event hosted by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. The group – made up of a range of sectors – gathered for the event, sponsored by Prime Accountants Group, at Chamber House in Coventry, to tune into Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s statement before discussing the outcomes.

While most acknowledged that there were few surprises, some viewed that large sections of the economy would suffer in the short term. Claire Lea, Tax Director at Prime Accountants Group, said: “The main point that stood out from the mini budget was the fact we mostly knew what was coming, and it definitely could have been worse considering some of the rumours from the last few weeks.

“The pensions triple lock has been protected, which protects against inflationary rises and cost of living, and as a result, workers’ tax will be squeezed and this means more people are going to be paying more tax with the change in the thresholds.

“R&D is something a lot of firms rely on as part of their growth and the reduction in R&D relief for small companies is unfortunate, though it is understandable that something needed to be done to address abuse of the scheme.

“The mini budget had a disastrous impact on the economy, and hopefully we now have some stability.” Tim Squires, Commercial Director at Squires Gear & Engineering Ltd, said: “Everything that was said was pretty much as expected and I think it will be a tough period through to next April for everybody.

“From a manufacturer’s point of view, it was notable that import tariffs would be removed on 100 different items, and I’d like to have some expansion on what those are because that could have a major impact on our ability to import certain goods.

“It was disappointing to hear that they would be reducing the R&D tax credits scheme given the heavy focus on innovation as an economic driver. “The review into workforce participation will be great for recruitment if its proposed benefits come to light.”

Olivia Parrish, Owner of Leap People Solutions, said: “There’s certainly a pragmatic approach here and a feeling of stability, and I think there is more detail needed around education for instance, but that will come. I would like to see how investment in education aligns to future employment skills as a sustainable strategy.
“There is more pressure than ever on employers who are dealing with increased business costs alongside supporting employees who are facing significant worries due to the cost of living issues.

“Now would have been a great time to provide support for employers to retrain and develop people - which would help with the skills gaps, recruitment and retaining the great talent that our region has.

“Although I’m an optimist, I think it’s the short term over the next few months that’s going to be most challenging. We are already seeing local businesses trying to reduce costs not as a medium-term strategy but as a short-term measure, so any additional increase in taxes will hit hard.

“We are in survival mode, but we are a great area in terms of business support, and more detail will help to contextualise some of the things announced in today’s Autumn Statement.” Neil Curtis, Managing Director of Net Visibility, said: “We all knew that things would be tighter, and we knew that there would be no massive spending coming back to us.

“As a speech, it definitely appeared as a stabiliser, and while we can see that national living wages are rising, that’s not going to cut it for everybody – though there’s not a lot else he could have done.” Sarah Windrum, chair of the CWLEP, said: “I’m sure most business leaders will agree with the growth priorities announced in the Autumn Statement - focused on energy, infrastructure, and innovation.

“It was also good to see the commitment to Wave 2 of the Levelling Up Fund with the same £1.7 billion for regions across the UK. “But we didn’t see any detail on business support including assistance with dramatically increasing energy costs which continues to be ‘coming soon’. Businesses across all sectors need to know now whether help is really on its way.

“I think the capital gains allowance reduction could bring a great opportunity for early-stage EIS or SEIS angel investments because of the tax benefits - but I didn’t get the impression that was why it was done! “If we truly want to build our own Silicon Valley, then early-stage investment in the entrepreneurs creating next-generation products and services will be key.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .