LOCAL BUSINESSES RESPOND TO THE AUTUMN BUDGET

Yesterday Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his autumn budget. Here are comments from local businesspeople.

Yesterday Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his autumn budget. Here are comments from local businesspeople.

Martin Gurney, Partner, Haines Watts Swindon

We would typically spend hours after the Budget writing about the impact of tax changes within the Budget and their implications for our clients.  The Chancellor has, to a significant extent, relieved us of this burden!

In terms of new tax measures introduced, there were very few.  The Chancellor has attempted to bolster the struggling Arts and Creative sectors by enhancing the creative tax reliefs available, and similarly tried to help the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sectors through rates discounts.

At the same time, he announced a move to expand R&D tax relief to cover cloud computing and data costs, with the focus of R&D relief moved to UK activity, in line with other jurisdictions.

We already knew about the changes to the rates of corporation tax from 2023, and nothing was done to amend or withdraw these changes, but the Annual Investment Allowance threshold of £1m was extended to 31 March 2023.

Overall, a very neutral Budget designed to keep the economy stable in times of inflationary pressures and supply chain concerns.

And finally, tomorrow is promised to no one.  The Chancellor did not make any amendments to income tax but he did state his desire and intention to reduce tax rates by the end of this parliament. Watch this space I guess!

Tom Brennan, TED Mortgages Swindon

£24bn earmarked for housing, £11.5Bn for affordable housing for 180,000 homes – Hopefully this will allow more people to be able to get on the property ladder where they are otherwise being priced out. Affordable housing is essential to be representative of society and as it stands there is currently not enough. £5bn to remove unsafe cladding should be a given.

Inflation is still high, and the cost of living is expected remain higher through autumn and the winter. With basic living costs increasing people should be looking at what areas they can save money to try to at least limit the impact of the increase on food and energy costs. Reviewing personal spending at a time when costs are increasing will be very important. Key areas to review will be Mortgage Payments, Loans, and credit cards where paying interest and household bills. Shopping around for better deals on these expenses with be time well spent.

Unemployment expected to be 2 million people less than previously feared. This is hopefully a positive indicator that we are coming out of the other side of the pandemic and finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. With the Furlough scheme ending in September there has been much uncertainty about the ramifications to businesses and employees about their ability to continue in their jobs. People in jobs is crucial for the economy to rebuild and although there have undoubtedly been many people that have been severely impacted by Covid, it is promising to hear that job opportunities are on the increase.

Emma Carter, Smarter Media

Great to see the economy is not in as bad a place as we all feared it might be and that our hospitality industry colleagues have been a much-needed tax breaks, even if it is only for one year! 

Of course, the cost of living remains a concern for most of the population, so it good to see some steps being taken to address that - though interesting that Rishi referenced the improvements he is making on the last ten years, when it's the Conservative party who've been in power during that time!! 

I am really sad to see the delay, once again, in the business rate reform. Many businesses have the drive to invest in further growth, and business rates play a huge part in restricting the cash to allow us to do so. And in light of the recruitment challenges we are facing in the Southwest, I am really keen to understand what the skills investment will actually mean for small businesses like mine. 

On a personal note, I'm really pleased to see the extra monies being allocated to schools for those with SEN and disabilities - the impact of the Pandemic on our children and young adults is significant, and although many schools are doing all the can, there is a definite gap in the lack of resources and skills in helping them recover - though i suspect the amount will be a drop in the ocean compared to what is actually needed