West Midlands businesses give their verdict on Autumn Statement

The statement included the announcement of a two per cent cut in National Insurance, taking the rate down from 12 per cent to 10 per cent in January for more than 27 million workers.

There are changes to National Insurance rates for self-employed business people, and ‘full expensing’ to make many investments fully tax-deductible.

The chancellor said he planned to introduce 110 measures to increase the UK’s productivity.

There was a £50 million investment pledge over the next two years aimed at increasing the number of apprentices in engineering and “key growth sectors” where there are shortages.

The statement also included £4.5bn of funding for “strategic manufacturing sectors” over a five-year period from 2025.

Mr Hunt also touched on further investment zones in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and the East Midlands, which would “help catalyse over £3.4 billion of private investment and 65,000 new jobs”.

A new investment zone would be based in Wales, “in the fantastic region of Wrexham and Flintshire” which was welcome as by businesses in mid-Wales.

Wayne Carter, managing director of Telford manufacturing company Fabweld Steel Products, said the Chancellor’s funding boost for the manufacturing sector was a “pleasant surprise” and particularly welcomed the focus to support plans for net zero transition.

The company, which designs access covers for the water, energy and security industries, is committed to operating in a sustainable way and reducing its impact on the environment and has installed solar panels and implemented changes to reduce direct emissions and the emissions related to its energy use.

Mr Carter said: “The Chancellor’s £4.5bn investment programme shows a real commitment to the industry. But it’s his £960m Green Industries Growth Accelerator that’s really caught our eye. This could prove invaluable.

“Supply chain issues caused by Covid and volatile energy prices highlighted how vulnerable our industry was to geopolitical and world events. That’s why we wanted to take back control – with investment in the greenest way possible – to benefit the planet, the business, customers and employees.

“We’re now seeing our commitment to clean energy at FSP paying off, but we’ve been lobbying local government and parliament for support for a while now, so to feel heard is a huge relief.

“But the fight’s not over yet. All we can do is hope that this investment proves to be transformative for the sector. The UK remains a world-leader in cutting emissions, having decarbonised faster than any G7 country since 1990, but we’ve still a long way to go for manufacturing to play its part in achieving Net Zero by 2050.”

Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) CEO Henrietta Brealey said: "There were a number of announcements in today’s Autumn Statement which will land well with the business community as we emerge from a turbulent period in our recent history.

“It was pleasing to see the Chancellor back a number of our calls in a bid to drive investment and reduce cost pressures – namely the move towards full expensing, restructuring of pension funds, reforming the R&D tax reliefs system and extending business rate relief for hospitality and retail firms.

“It was also reassuring to see the Chancellor commit to plans to simplify the planning process in order to speed up the delivery of infrastructure projects.

“Given the current labour market pressures, additional funding for Apprenticeships is also welcome, however, offering businesses more flexibility on how they spend their levy funding would have made the measure even more effective.

“In particular, the confirmation of the West Midlands Investment Zone is a major boost for the region, creating thousands of jobs for local people and offers a vital opportunity to leverage private sector investment.”

Neil Lloyd, managing partner of Shropshire's FBC Manby Bowdler, said the Chancellor’s decision to make full expensing permanent would be welcomed by firms.

He said: “Every business needs regular investment if it is to grow and thrive, and extending this tax relief will provide certainty for business owners and could persuade many to commit to the new buildings, equipment and jobs that their business needs.

“This tax relief is expensive though, costing the Treasury about £10bn a year, so the Chancellor will have to offset it with less popular policies elsewhere.

“For small businesses, which account for the vast majority of enterprises across Shropshire and the West Midlands, the package of 110 measures to support business growth is also welcomed as is plans for the new West Midlands investment zone.”