Five changes needed for economy to improve – Chambers

THE government must deliver five major changes – including access to finance for growing companies – if the business environment is to improve in 2013, the British Chambers of Commerce has said.

John Longworth, director general of the BCC (pictured left), said the organisation remained confident that business “can make Britain dynamic again”.

However, he believes five changes must be delivered by the government for this to happen.

These are: access to finance for growing companies; the green light for the delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects; a skills system that better equips young people for the world of work; further reductions in red tape that hamper business growth; and  more targeted support for firms looking to trade overseas.

Longworth said: “Urgency, scale, and delivery are the three things that the Government must think about as we enter 2013. Business wants to see bold, once-in-a-century measures to drive recovery and enable British companies to go head-to-head with competitors across the world. 

“We need a clear, agreed and long-term push to improve Britain’s business environment before we reach a point of no return – leading to decades of stagnation and further decline.”