Business leaders call for Budget action
BUSINESS leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire say firms in the region want to see tangible benefits from Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget.
Louise Bennett, the chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, wants to see further that will help SMEs on the ‘frontline’ in the area.
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Bennett said: “We have been calling for measures that will deliver growth to coincide with the deficit reduction plan for three years now and the economy is still struggling to grow.
“Over the past year to 18 months, we have seen money earmarked by Government for infrastructure that is supposed to have been filtered through LEPs across the country, but that money just doesn’t appear to be coming through.
“At the time, those announcements of funding were welcomed but still much of the funding remains unspent.
“We also need a great commitment to spending on housing because it can have a huge impact on the economy but often doesn’t get the recognition it should.
“This is certainly a growing concern here in Coventry and Warwickshire.”
Bennett added that not all measures for growth required huge amounts of funding. She said often support is available to help SMEs grow, but accessing it has become confusing.
She said: “There are a plethora of Government initiatives that have been announced to help businesses but it’s not always obvious how to access them.
“The Heseltine Review called for even greater links with Chambers of Commerce to help signpost companies to the range of support available and that must now be implemented.
“This is not a Budget that needs a raft of new announcements, it is one that needs to ensure that action is taken quickly to help businesses get the economy growing again.”
Sir Peter Rigby, chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “The Budget is an ideal opportunity for the Government to help CW LEP build on the work already underway and we hope the Chancellor will take this opportunity to improve job prospects, innovation, productivity and skills across the region by delivering a positive budget to kick-start growth.
“The Government established LEPs to give business the increased capability to create jobs and increase economic vibrancy and that is working well here.
“At CW LEP, we hope this trend will continue and that Chancellor George Osborne will announce measures allowing the work we have started to continue in a positive fashion.
“Our City Deal has engineering and manufacturing at its heart, and we would clearly welcome any boost to those sectors in the budget, in addition to pushing forwards on vital infrastructure projects.”
