Business leaders respond to ‘incredible intervention’ by Chancellor

Business leaders from across the West Midlands have been reacting to Rishi Sunak’s extraordinary intervention on Friday evening when he unveiled a comprehensive range of measures aimed at alleviating pressure on workers across the region.

In his latest round of announcements to deal with the impact of the Coronavirus, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the Government would pay up to 80% of workers’ salaries through a new grant system, was deferring VAT payments for the next quarter and that Business Interruption Loans would be available from Monday (March 23).

It came as Prime Minster Boris Johnson announced that bars, restaurants, pubs, clubs and gyms would all close to reduce human contact to drive down the spread of the virus.

Adam Cunningham, chairman of MAN and chief executive of Muller Holdings, said: “There will be many extremely relieved business owners and employees tonight following Rishi Sunak’s announcement.

My initial reaction is that this is exactly what is required to ensure businesses can retain their most valuable asset…their workforce, covering the next three months initially, with the possibility of extending the support if required.

“The 80% payment (up to £2,500) should ensure the vast majority of employees can continue to pay their essential bills and feed their families, two crucial elements of everyday life. I’m also pleasantly surprised to see that this has been backdated to March 1st, covering people that may have already been laid off.

“We await further guidance and information to be published, so, as employers, we can understand the detail in full, but it does sound comprehensive, including covering employees on zero-hour contracts.”

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “These are incredible interventions from Government – the like of which we have never seen before.

“We know, from speaking to businesses daily, that company owners and their staff have huge concerns which we have fed through to Government and the Bank of England in recent days. They have clearly listened and these fresh announcements will have addressed some of those concerns.

“However, the unprecedented nature of the announcements from the Government mean that there is a lot to unpick and a huge amount to understand in a very short space of time.

“We, at the Chamber, will be working with partners across the region to ensure that companies can call upon the help and advice they need to know which areas of support will help them best get through this extraordinary period.

“What’s vitally important for cashflow, is that loans and local authority grants are available immediately to give business breathing space while HMRC readies itself.

“The key message from the Chancellor to businesses was to hold off making any decisions around cuts until they have understood and digested the packages of support available in order to protect as many jobs and companies as possible.”

Eddie Williams, Midlands Chair of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 and a partner at Grant Thornton in Birmingham, said: “The measures announced are a positive step and will go some way in providing businesses with the financial help they need to support and retain their staff and weather the economic storm.

“Once the crisis phase of this is over, businesses will need to rebuild and their staff will play a crucial part in this. The support package the Chancellor has set out will hopefully enable them to hold on to the talent that will drive their recovery, as well as providing a financial lifeline for many employees facing a period of great uncertainty and turmoil.”