2008 Budget Report: the business reaction

The Chancellor’s relationship with the entrepreneurial community may have been tested to its limits in recent months, but businesses are today cautiously welcoming the measures outlined in Alistair Darling’s first Budget statement.

Whilst there were no announcements that would ‘set the Thames alight’ as CBI chief Richard Lambert observed, businesses are nevertheless celebrating the Chancellor’s ‘responsible’ and ‘simplified’ approach.

The CBI has praised the Government’s commitment to increasing the funds available under the small firms loan guarantee by 60% in the next year, and applauded the removal of the five year trading restriction.

However, Lambert warned that the ‘Government has much to do if it is to win back its enterprise credentials.’

Meanwhile, the six month deferment of a 2p increase on fuel duty has also attracted praise. Yet John Wright, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, has claimed that ‘the issue is unlikely to go away.’

Wright also welcomed the decision to delay a proposed clampdown on income shifting, which the FSB claims will substantially increase the paperwork burden incurred by family firms.

And commenting on the Treasury’s pledge to invest an extra £60million in funding to improve Britain’s adult skills base, Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: ‘We hope the commitment to give adults the chance to retrain will help people in redundancy situations or with outdated skills, and particularly women returning to the labour market.’