David Tonks, Senior Director and National Head of Office agency at DTZ comments: “The Chancellor’s door may be open to the idea of Regional Councils, following Manchester with the appointment of a new City Mayor, but we are all craving more detail around meaningful devolution to the West Midlands region that will offer the certainty required by prospective investors.”
Simon Lloyd, National Head of Industrial & Logistics at DTZ comments:
“The Chancellor’s package to boost bank lending to SMEs is welcome news for businesses the West Midlands who will be able to benefit from the Treasury guaranteeing up to £500m of lending. This will help SMEs to expand and, ultimately, should have a knock on impact of improved demand for commercial property. What may be a sticking point however is the availability of good quality industrial stock in the region due to recent take-up of space and a lack of speculative development.
“Also of note is the support for businesses taking on apprentices. The scrapping of national insurance contributions is encouraging and should go some way to addressing the skills shortage.”