Business leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire have welcomed the ‘exciting news’ of an Investment Zone in the region in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.
A group of businesspeople joined the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce at Prime Accountant Group’s HQ to watch and react to Jeremy Hunt MP’s statement.
Within it, the Chancellor revealed that an investment zone would be created on the border of Coventry and Warwickshire around the site of Coventry Airport to encourage businesses to invest in the area.
It was part of a statement that saw a raft of announcements designed to encourage business growth.
Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “There was real excitement in the room with regards to the investment zone. This could be a real game changer for the region.
“We know how important that site is around Coventry Airport and this could have a massive impact for the regional economy.”
He added: “We, alongside our colleagues at the British Chambers of Commerce, campaigned for the full expensing to become permanent and that was announced in the Chancellor’s statement.
“There were other measures that were also welcome, such as the extension of Business Rates relief for those firms in the hospitality and retail sector.
“Of course, the devil will always be in the detail when it comes to this kind of statement and even the financial professions around the table need more time for fully assess the implication of the measures but the Chancellor set out plans for growth which our members will always want to hear.
“Another area that I will be very interested to see the detail on was the planning reforms as this is something we have been calling for as part of our employment land review for the region.
“We understand that we are getting very close to a General Election and that some of the measures introduced around the minimum wage and National Insurance will have one eye on that and it’s important to understand how firms will benefit.”
Steve Harcourt, director of Prime Accountants Group, added: “We spoke before the statement about businesses needing confidence and I believe it helped to do that.
“Where we were thinking that there might be a recession in 2024 but, actually, the new forecasts suggest there will be growth, which is positive.
“There was a great deal of detail when it comes to tax changes and it was heavily focused on business. That was to be welcomed and we’ll be looking at the small print in the coming days to see the full impact on our clients.”