Black Country and Birmingham business chiefs react to Budget

Black Country Chamber of Commerce CEO Sarah Moorhouse said there were positive elements but said energy concerns remained.

“Trailed as a budget which would support the growth agenda and get people back to work, there were elements in the Chancellor’s announcement which would be welcomed by businesses," she said.

"Help on childcare, and for the over 50s workers, should make it easier to join and re-join the workforce. There were also positive signals around R&D, particularly for SMEs.

“However, there was little which would tackle the upfront costs of doing business such as reform to business rates.

"Additionally, the direction of travel to ensure energy security is the right one, but many of our local firms are highly intensive manufacturers and, from April, some will struggle to pay energy bills and defer invest decisions to cover costs.

“The desire to create ’12 canary wharfs’ and more detail on potential investment zones was welcome and it was encouraging to see that a region in the West Midlands is still set to be one of these.

"To maximise any opportunities which levelling up may create, it is important that Black Country businesses and its key sectors are not overlooked when these decisions are made.”

Raj Kandola, head of policy and strategic relationships at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “There was much to admire in this afternoon’s statement as the Chancellor put forward sensible options to tackle our inherent labour market shortages and turbo charge business investment in a bid to raise stagnant productivity levels.

“Support for working parents around childcare costs and pension reform will hopefully bring more people back to the labour market and ensure we retain experienced staff.

“A move towards to full expensing around capex investment was also very welcome. However, for the measure to be truly effective, it’s a policy that needs to be implemented permanently in order to enable long term investment.

“The introduction of a new investment zone in the West Midlands also feels much more strategic and aligned to our regional strengths in education as opposed to the previous iteration – the challenge remains to ensure that jobs and investment aren’t simply being diverted from other parts of the region.

“Although heavily trailed, greater devolution of powers to the WMCA is also a step in the right direction – for levelling up to truly succeed, decision making powers need to rest with those who truly understand the economic contours of the region.

“Nevertheless, businesses will be disappointed that the Chancellor didn’t go further in a bid to tackle ingrained cost pressures – ignoring the pressing need to reform business rates or a willingness to commit to more generous energy support if wholesale gas prices go up seems like a missed opportunity.”