The head of the UK’s Chamber of Commerce network has warned that the Autumn Budget will be “the real test” of the Government’s support for business - urging the Chancellor to cut costs and help firms break out of a cycle of risk aversion.
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), delivered a keynote address at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce’s (GBCC) Business Growth Studio Conference at IET Birmingham: Austin Court. She told business leaders that firms had not lost their appetite for growth but were being pushed into a defensive position. She said: “The UK does not have a business ambition problem, but it does have a confidence issue. Years of compounding cost pressures and geopolitical shocks have meant we are in that defensive position. Too often the question is not ‘where shall I invest next?’ but ‘what cost is coming next?’”
Citing the BCC’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey – the UK’s largest private sector business survey – Ms Haviland revealed that only 17% of firms plan to increase investment, with inflation the top concern and labour costs the biggest pressure. BCC research has also found that policy decisions alone have driven a 70% rise in costs for the average SME over the past decade. She said: “Firms are now experiencing policy as a downside risk rather than opportunity.”
Setting out the BCC’s priorities for the Budget, she called on the Chancellor to cut National Insurance for under-25s, ease energy costs and deliver a full review of business rates, and restore local export support, which has been cut back particularly outside combined authority areas.
She added: “We now have a million young people out of work. It’s our job to help them, but it’s government’s job to help us. Forty per cent of your energy bills are actual energy. The rest is levies and VAT. The government can do something about that. These requests aren’t spending requests, they are growth investments. We will deliver a return on that investment.”
Turning to devolution, Ms Haviland said the West Midlands had “serious economic strengths”, including advanced manufacturing, professional services, logistics, universities and creative industries, but warned that business must help shape local growth plans. She said: “The Chamber network has been doing devolution for 250 years, so we’re back in fashion. But devolved growth will only work if businesses are in the room early. Local growth plans must be written with employers.”
She also highlighted that only around one in ten UK businesses export, compared with 40% of Chamber members, describing exporting as “the quickest way to grow an economy”. And she described artificial intelligence (AI) as “the juggernaut that has already arrived in our businesses”, adding that it could be “a real leveller” for smaller firms.
Ms Haviland urged delegates to share their experiences with GBCC, explaining that member insight feeds directly into the BCC’s surveys and submissions to Government. “Growth isn’t going to come from one speech, one budget, one programme,” she said. “It takes thousands of business decisions.
The job of government, the Chambers and organisations like ours is to make your decisions easier, not harder.”
The Business Growth Studio Conference – supported by Pioneer partner University College Birmingham - brought together more than 100 delegates for a series of keynotes, workshops and panel discussions on some of the key topics facing firms today, including global trade, AI and digital transformation, sustainability, labour market trends and cyber security.
Ms Haviland was joined by Soho Tavern Group founder Mikey Singh who told delegates how he and brother Danny expanded their Indian gastropub from one site on Birmingham’s Soho Road to a seven-venue hospitality group operating across the Midlands and Northeast. Meanwhile, Special Olympics GB athlete Daniel Mills and CEO Laura Baxter shared powerful lessons on inclusive leadership and building high performing teams.
The conference forms part of GBCC’s Business Growth Studio, a programme supporting SMEs across Greater Birmingham through expert insight, practical workshops, peer support and networking.
Pic: From left – GBCC chief executive Henrietta Brealey, Soho Tavern Group CEO Mikey Singh and British Chambers of Commerce director general Shevaun Haviland