“The voice of business seems to have been heard in government at last,” says Maureen Frost, Deputy Chief Executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce. “The Chancellor has taken on board many targeted measures that chambers have been lobbying for to boost investment in jobs and infrastructure and align spending decisions with local business priorities.
“Firstly, he has backed the plan recently put forward by Lord Heseltine to devolve more spending on business support to regional level with chambers playing an important role in decision making. Putting more money into the Regional Growth Fund will help the new Solent and Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnerships which are key to stimulating growth in our region.
“Secondly, we welcome the grace period he has announced on empty property relief so that businesses with empty premises can avoid crippling rates while they seek new tenants. This has been an issue especially for those in the manufacturing sector who have had factory premises standing idle due to the downturn.
“Thirdly, the £1 billion of extra capital for the Business Bank should help to kick start investment projects and boost companies throughout the supply chain.
“On other measures, it is encouraging that the expected fuel price hike due for January has been scrapped. As well as private motorists, this helps virtually all businesses, especially those in the transport and logistics sectors.
“Raising the capital allowances for investment in plant and machinery will also be of huge benefit to business owners who want to expand. Similarly, extending the SME rate relief scheme by a further year to April 2014 is good news.
“On the export side, we have called for much more support from government and the Chancellor has gone some way to address this. His 25% increase in funding for UK Trade & Investment will boost the capacity of overseas chambers to help UK exporters.
“Despite his claim of an economy that is healing, the Chancellor was constrained by weak growth, downgraded forecasts and a longer than envisaged deficit reduction plan.
“In that context, there was little he could do to ease the squeeze either on household consumption or business costs. He has done as well as he could in the circumstances.”
