Business leaders in Liverpool gave a mixed reception to Chancellor John Healey's first Budget, broadly welcoming devolution and funding for the Littlewoods film studios project but urging more Government action on skills, costs and exports.
BusinessLive editor Alistair Houghton watched the Budget speech at the Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool as a guest of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, then chaired a panel debate on what was announced.
Mixed verdict from the audience
The Chancellor's announcements on devolution were broadly welcomed, as was the news of £20m in funding for the Littlewoods film studios project. However, the audience felt there were missed opportunities, with calls for more Government action on skills, on costs, and on promoting exports.
A show of hands at the end of the debate produced a verdict that was pretty evenly split between positive, negative and neutral, with a slight edge for positive over negative.
Chamber chief calls for more detail
Paul Cherpeau, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber, described the Budget as "another light-touch Budget with few shocks or surprises."
He said fiscal devolution around business rates and income tax receipts could bring further opportunities for locally based decisions to stimulate investments and grow native businesses, but warned it must not lead to further financial inequality between different regions.
Cherpeau said the funding for the Littlewoods Building development was "certainly a tangible positive for the city region" and gave confidence in future development opportunities. He added that the skills agenda needs to be central to the government's long-term planning, especially with the advent of AI, noting there was "very little of that" in the Budget.
He also said there was "very little about international trade and the growth benefits of exporting" and urged the Chancellor to prioritise this opportunity moving forward.
Advisers and business leaders respond
Joanna Dallas, associate director at business advisory firm RSM UK, said the announcement of founders' lifetime relief of 10% up to £10m and other measures to support entrepreneurs was encouraging, but this may be cancelled out by steps such as business asset disposal relief being reduced to £500,000.
Dallas said it was disappointing there was no mention of National Insurance Contributions or help for businesses with the cost of employment. She said entry level jobs are being squeezed across the economy and she would have liked to have seen more on apprenticeships, improving access for young people and encouraging businesses to invest in skills training.
Greg Johnson, CEO at Warwick Developments NW, said energy costs are a real challenge for manufacturers in particular. He said the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme "sounds like a good one" but he wanted to see more detail about how it works in practice.
Johnson welcomed the push for more devolution, saying the region has its own unique characteristics and giving more control to local leaders over major spending decisions makes sense. He said in Steve Rotheram the region has an experienced Mayor who knows exactly what the city region needs.
Kathryn Gordon-Orr, sales and marketing director at Machmade Ltd, said there was nothing from the Chancellor about National Insurance Contributions and with many firms' bottom line being squeezed, it is hard to see how that will change after this Budget. She described female founder support and the one-year entrepreneur support as "really positive ideas," adding that businesses need greater incentives and fewer barriers to hire young people.
