Industry leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire say the Chancellor must ‘urgently address’ the rising costs of doing business – despite the latest economic figures showing strong growth at the start of 2022.
The latest GDP figures show the UK economy grew by 0.8 per cent in January according to the ONS.
But Sean Rose, head of policy at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said the ‘cost of doing business crisis’ was really starting to bite for firms across the region.
He said: “The news of an economic bounce in January is positive and reflects the fact that Covid-19 restrictions were easing and that businesses and consumers were returning to some sense of normality.
“However, we are now in a very different world compared to January and businesses and individuals are really facing a tight squeeze when it comes to rising costs.
“We’ve talked about the ‘cost of doing business crisis’ previously and that has really been exacerbated by global events in recent weeks.
“It was something we were already urging the Chancellor to look at in his Spring Statement later this month anyway, but now we believe it is an issue that he must urgently address by postponing the proposed rise in National Insurance and by looking at other ways the Government can support.
“I’d also encourage businesses to speak to the Chamber in order to get support and look at ways in which they can continue to grow.”
Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Raising interest rates and taxes at this time would weaken the UK’s growth prospects further, by undermining confidence and diminishing households' and firms' finances.
“We urge the Chancellor to use the upcoming Spring Statement to tackle the cost-of-doing-business crisis by delaying the National Insurance rise and committing to no further policy measures that will increase costs for business for the remainder of this Parliament.”