Phil Foster Comments on behalf of Local Small Businesses…
25th November, 2015 – In reaction to today’s Autumn Budget & Spending Review, Phil Foster, MD at business energy comparison website Love Energy Savings, has provided the following analysis.
“There was much talk of economic security and a re-building of Britain. Headline stats are promising, with the UK leading the G7 with our economic growth. In terms of redistributing wealth, the Midlands has seen the region creating three-times more jobs than in London and the Northern Powerhouse is still chugging along nicely, growing faster than the south. For a Northern business like ours, this shores up our faith that the Northern Powerhouse is a reality and it is great to see that it is still a key pillar of economic policy.
It was great to hear more about Osborne’s ‘economic devolution revolution’ which will now grow to incorporate our Northern neighbours, Liverpool, Sheffield and the North East. £12bn will be invested in local growth, helping to create 26 enterprise zones which will only help incentivise creativity and innovation.
But the devolution does not stop there, and it is small local businesses that will probably be most affected by this. Today, Osborne confirmed his plans to devolve business rates to local councils. This announcement marks a great change of power distribution in the UK, giving elected mayors the opportunity to alter local business rates however they see fit, with agreement from the local business community of course!
The business rate setting powers are meant to encourage local councils to nurture business but combined with Osborne’s plans to phase out the national grant, it will be interesting to see if this will result in higher business rates for those councils that preside over more residential-dominated areas. With greater power comes greater responsibility and it will be the responsibility of local businesses, as much as the local councils, to make this work.
For the smallest UK businesses, this may be a time of transition and only time will tell if the year-long extension of small business rate relief will be enough to support the change.
Beyond business rates, Osborne preached of a digital evolution, proclaiming that by 2020 all businesses will be able to manage their tax accounts online. This will ideally reduce admin time and costs, helping small businesses keep on top of their finances.
Infrastructure was also a large talking point that will benefit small and local businesses, taking them nationwide. Osborne confirmed that HS2 can now begin, as will the electrification of railway lines such as the Trans Pennine Express.
In summary, it seems that, for small businesses and local economies, the future is looking rosy and horizons are expanding. However, while this all sounds great in an echoey hall in the Houses of Parliament it will be interesting to see how it translates into reality, especially as in the same breath as promising investment, Osborne claimed that the Dept. of Business, Skills and Enterprise will receive a budget cut of 17%!”
Author Bio:
Phil Foster is the MD of Love Energy Savings, a business energy comparison service designed to help business owners not only improve their profits, but also save valuable time in the process of comparing and switching suppliers. Advocating energy efficiency and awareness of energy usage, alongside tariff comparison, Love Energy Savings are committed to helping businesses save money so they can continue to grow.
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Tags: Autumn Budget, Business Information Portal, Chancellor George Osborne, Economic growth, Love Energy Savings, National, Phil Foster, Small Businesses, SMEs, The BIP
