Responding to the Budget, Chris Sutton, head of JLL’s office in Cardiff, said:
“The headline act for Wales announced in today’s Budget is the halving of the tolls on the Severn Crossings from 2018. This is a positive step forward that will reduce this barrier to trade. This could lead to increased traffic across the two bridges and therefore this strengthens the case for the fast delivery of the M4 Black Route, south of Newport.
“The creation of Port Talbot Waterfront Enterprise Zone is an important move in helping to tackle the job losses in the steel industry and follows a good run of projects in other enterprise zones in Wales, most recently Aston Martin in the St Athan Enterprise Zone. However the provision of Enhanced Capital Allowances from HM Treasury will be vital for the success of this new zone.
“Business rates are already devolved in Wales however the changes announced by the Chancellor for England have been widely debated already in Wales. The Welsh Government has the opportunity to consider a similar move to increase Small Business Rate Relief and change the indexation of the Uniform Business Rate from RPI to the lower CPI, as recommended by the independent Business Rates Panel in 2015.”