After several years of inflationary pressures, labour shortages, rising borrowing costs, geopolitical uncertainty and weak productivity growth, Shropshire employers were looking less for headline-grabbing announcements and more for stability, certainty and evidence of a long-term economic plan.
So, did John Healey's first Budget as Chancellor live up to the hopes and expectations of local employers? Here's what Shropshire companies had to say, including the views of a business gathering who took part in a special edition of the Shropshire Business Podcast at Shropshire Chamber this afternoon. Guests were:
Shropshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ruth Ross said: “The Chancellor described it as a Budget to give us more breathing space – but I’m not sure businesses will be feeling any of that.
“This was a Budget that tried to send all the right signals to business, but lacked the sort of big calls that would really make a difference. There really wasn’t anything in there providing direct support to businesses at all. There were several positive steps outlined, including Founders Relief and significant reductions or the complete removal of business rates for many in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
“Additional funding for AI, increased finance through the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank will also offer new opportunities for entrepreneurs to start and scale up.
“But on the other side, inflation and taxation remain the biggest concerns in Shropshire Chamber’s quarterly economic survey, along with concerns over the rising National Minimum Wage. None of that has been alleviated by this speech.”
Senior partner and head of Employment at legal firm Aaron & Partners Helen Watson said:
“A 3.9% rise in the National Living Wage will be welcomed by millions of workers, but employers will now need to look carefully at what the increase means alongside everything else that’s coming their way.
“From next April, businesses paying the National Living Wage will need to find £13.21 an hour. That comes as tougher obligations around workplace harassment take effect this week, with the qualifying period for unfair dismissal then dropping to six months from January.
“Taken individually, these changes are reasonable and manageable. But it’s the cumulative impact that businesses, particularly smaller employers with lower budgets and no dedicated HR teams, will be worried about. That all adds up to more cost and more work for employers at a time when many are already stretched.
“For some smaller firms, that could mean a real brake on hiring. If recruitment or expansion starts to slow as a result, that would sit uneasily with the Government’s ambition to get businesses growing and creating jobs."
McPhillips managing director, Paul Inions, said: “Today’s budget marks a real shift in how the West Midlands is funded, including through the through new Good Growth Funds.
“Keeping 100% of business rates locally and, from 2028, a share of income tax gives the region long-term funding it controls and can plan around too.
“For those of us building the region’s infrastructure, both above and below ground, that means the public sector can plan ahead, and the private sector and its supply chain have the certainty to work together and deliver on that plan.
“But we’ve heard the rhetoric before, and what the region needs now is delivery. We have the resources, the skills and the desire to deliver locally. We now need the planning system unlocked and funding to come through, so we can get on with it."
Alasdair Coutts-Britton, founder of Oswestry-based Una Vita Financial Planning, said today's Budget contained few major surprises – but that was not necessarily a bad thing.
"I don't think this was ever going to be anything more than a steady-as-you-go Budget because Mr Healey simply did not have many options available to him.The increase in the threshold for business rates is good news for pubs, clubs and restaurants, and the continuation of the fuel duty freeze was entirely predictable with diesel at £2 a litre.
"The decision not to go ahead with the cut to the amount people can put into a cash ISA and keep it at £20,000 was less predictable but certainly welcome, as was the £100 energy support for people living in homes in Council Tax bands A to D in England.
"But, in fact, a relatively quiet Budget is not necessarily a bad thing. If you think back to the last two Budgets, all the speculation ahead of them led to people making personal finance decisions they later regretted."
Shropshire strategic communications expert Jon Simcock said the Budget contained few surprises – but could pave the way for an early general election.
“There was little to truly scare the horses in this Budget and some positive news – such as the £100 help with energy bills and the extension of the cut to VAT on electricity bills.
“Business also benefitted with the new tax relief for the founders of successful firms and the raising of the business rates threshold for many small businesses. The decision to devolve 100 per cent of business rates to local authorities by the end of the decade will also change the funding landscape in the longer term.
“But in general I get the feeling this Budget was designed neither to please nor offend, but simply to mark time.
“In fact, it could well turn out to be the last Budget before a General Election. So this may well be the last Budget under Labour’s current manifesto. If that proves to be the case, Mr Healey’s second budget may be an entirely different affair to this one.”
Carl Huntley and Bryn Jones, directors of award-winning Base Architects, welcomed extra investment in social and affordable housing and the help being offered to first-time buyers. But they said Mr Healey had not done enough to tackle major issues affecting the sector – including development viability, skills shortages and planning delays.
Carl said: “We certainly welcome the extra £1.5bn support Mr Healey outlined for social and affordable housing in England today and the wider borrowing powers for regional leaders to help deliver new homes.
“The new Your First Home scheme should stimulate activity at the lower end of the housing ladder, but the Mansion Tax will have the opposite effect at the other end.”
Bryn said: “Viability remains one of the biggest concerns. Rising construction costs, higher borrowing rates, increased regulatory requirements and ongoing pressure on supply chains have combined to make many schemes increasingly difficult to deliver.
“While any measures designed to stimulate investment are welcome, there was little in today’s announcement that directly addresses the financial pressures facing developers and investors on the ground.”
Carl said the Budget had also missed an opportunity to fully address the growing skills challenge facing construction.
Helen Cooper, owner of Telford-based Turas Accountants, says the decision to increase the business rates thresholds would help thousands of small companies across the country. But she said small and medium sized businesses would still be facing a tough 12 months because of rising fuel costs and tough economic conditions.
“There were undoubtedly some positive announcements in today’s speech – such as the help for first-time buyers and the cuts to business rates – but I would have liked to have seen more to support small businesses. It is these businesses which employ the majority of people in this country and which drive the nation’s economic growth and it is all too easy to take them for granted.”
Helen also warned businesses that major technical announcements could also be hidden in the detail of today’s speech.
“The devil always lies in the detail and we will review the Budget in full over the next few days to make sure we can give all our clients the best possible advice in the wake of Mr Healey’s speech."
Graham Corfield, chief executive of step-free boarding ramp manufacturer Aviramp, said Chancellor John Healey should have gone further in supporting the nation’s ‘engine room of growth’.
"While there are some welcome measures aimed at supporting investment and economic stability – particularly around defence – I don't believe this Budget goes far enough to unlock the full potential of British manufacturing.
"Businesses like ours are ambitious. We want to invest, recruit and export, but we need a policy environment that gives us the confidence to do all that. Manufacturing is one of the UK's greatest strengths and the engine room of the country’s growth and must be put at the heart of its economic strategy.
"Every manufacturer I speak to is wrestling with the same issue. We need more engineers, more technicians, more apprentices and more young people choosing careers in industry. But we are facing unprecedented costs with the increase in minimum wage and the increased NICs from the previous Budget.
“There must be greater investment in apprenticeships and more flexibility in skills funding because the current system is simply not delivering enough people with the qualifications employers need."
Jennifer Hughes, general manager of Telford-based Transicon which delivers projects for a number of manufacturers in the defence ecosystem, said: “This is a real vote of confidence in British defence, and it shows we’ve realised how important a home-grown supply chain is to the country’s security and resilience. The whole supply chain will welcome it.
“The British Business Bank is there for SMEs, but keeping track of where investment is available is hard. Locally we’ve had months with no support for growth schemes since EU funding ended and small firms lose time and money waiting for the next investment cycle.
“Routing new money through the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank could open up real opportunities but only if smaller businesses can find it and access it. Too often investment like this ends up with the biggest names, while the small manufacturers who make up so much of the supply chain miss out.”
“We want to see a clear, simple route for SMEs to get involved and I know organisations such as Make UK Defence are pushing for this too.”
Neil Lloyd, chief executive of FBC Manby Bowdler and the Adeptio Law Group, said: “I am very pleased to see the move on business rates which is long overdue and will help many small and mainly retail businesses across our region. I think the Chancellor’s decision to reduce his economic headroom shows just how tight a corner he was in ahead of today’s speech and the limited wriggle room he had available.
“This was a speech very much designed to give him and the new prime minister some breathing space and he announced little which will significantly move the dial for business.
“I’m of course pleased to see further investment in training and skills and the £100m investment for local apprenticeship services to match young people with local firms is welcome.
“I would have liked to see stronger, more targeted interventions to support skills development, whether through enhanced training incentives, clearer vocational pathways or more support for regional skills programmes. Without a long‑term plan to grow the UK’s skills base, businesses will continue to face constraints that no single Budget can fix.”
Lawrence Wood, Principal and CEO of Telford College, said: “I’m pleased to see £100 million committed to a local apprenticeship service that will match young people with local firms. Apprenticeships are one of the best routes into skilled work and helping young people find opportunities with employers on their doorstep is a key part of our partnership working with businesses in Telford.
“The Chancellor also said today’s record defence investment must work for British jobs as well as national security. As a delivery partner in the Midlands Defence Technical Excellence College, we’ll be looking at the detail to see how that investment reaches young people in Telford.”
