Reacting to the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, Paul Britton, CEO, Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce said:
“This was trailed as a tough budget and local businesses have already been hanging fire according to our most recent survey, with almost half of businesses more concerned about tax rises than three months ago.
“Early signals from the budget today are that most businesses will be hit by the NI rises, and this could mean they continue to pause or row back on planned investment.
“Time will tell whether this budget has built confidence or added to the anxiety that was already there. There is a lot to shake down in terms of the details on incentives, new costs and threshold changes for NICS but businesses will feel they are carrying the weight heavily of a new plan for renewal. As the engine of growth, exporters are missing from the budget and majority will be medium sized businesses, there was no protection, re-assurance or incentive for them”. 
“The investment in Further Education, business rates concessions and the pledge to join up services across departments in Government was one of a list of positives.
Government should use between now and the spending review in the Spring to develop policies to support local businesses, especially for those companies trading internationally and investing in their workforce.”
