Black Country Chamber Chief Executive Responds to Budget
30 Oct 2024
Published in: Black Country Chamber of Commerce News
Businesses in the Black Country will welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to restoring economic stability and increasing investment
Businesses in the Black Country will welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to restoring economic stability and increasing investment as part of Wednesday’s Budget, according to Sarah Moorhouse, Chief Executive of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce.
She added that the government’s pledge to fix the foundations of the economy, to tackle economic inactivity and expand opportunities for small and medium sized businesses are also positive signs for the future.
However she warned that Chamber members will be bracing themselves for the impact of increased taxation, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, that means businesses will be impacted by the drop in the threshold at which they start paying employers’ National Insurance from £9,100 to £5,000.
Among the raft of measures announced by the Chancellor, employers' National Insurance contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15%, while smaller businesses will benefit from the employment allowance increasing from £5,000 to £10,500.
The Chancellor also announced a 6.7% increase to the national minimum wage along with a freeze on fuel duty.
Sarah said: “Today’s Budget will concern businesses as they prepare for the drop to the employers’ National Insurance thresholds and increases in their employer National Insurance contributions.
“Local surveys and recent feedback from our members confirmed that companies had adopted a wait and see approach to investing ahead of the Budget as they expected to see increased taxation impact their companies.
“However, the freeze on fuel duty will be welcomed and businesses will also welcome the announcement of a ‘modern industrial strategy’ along with nearly £1bn for the aerospace sector, more than £2bn for the automotive sector and up to £520m for a new Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing fund.
“Our economic surveys conducted over the last 12 months have shown Black Country businesses had higher confidence than national Chamber of Commerce survey results, so we are backing our region’s resilient firms of all sizes to make the most of the positive opportunities out there.
“We hope that now they can analyse the detail of the Budget after weeks of speculation, they will be encouraged to move forward knowing more of the impact.
“The Chancellor said she wanted to deliver on a drive for economic growth based on being able to ‘invest, invest, invest’ which we broadly welcome.”
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