Member Article

"Don't overlook businesses in the budget"

A leading North West law firm has issued a rallying cry urging the Chancellor not to forget SMEs in tomorrow’s Budget.

The clamour ahead of the Spring Budget has been for the Chancellor to use the unexpectedly strong economic performance to fund increase public spending, chiefly on health and social care. But, North West law firm DTM Legal says he must not forget to focus on assisting SMEs who are being hit by the uncertainties of Brexit, increased cost of imports caused by the fall in sterling and upcoming business rate rises.

Philip Whitehurst, Partner at DTM Legal, which has offices in Chester and Liverpool, said: “We’re not expecting any earth-shattering announcements tomorrow due to the impending Brexit negotiations, although I would be surprised not to see monies set aside (perhaps as a one off fighting fund) to deal with some of the most immediate issues facing the NHS. In addition there is the already trailed additional, and welcome, funding for secondary education. But I hope SMEs as the key driver of our economy are not overlooked and entrepreneurs are given the encouragement they need to invest and innovate.”

The widely publicised inequities of business rates need to be addressed. The change in business rates payments set to come into place from 1 April is down to the revaluation of property in Britain. The last revaluation took place shortly before the property crash of 2008, meaning a large number of businesses will see their rates significantly increase.

Many people are already speculating that the business rates blow to smaller businesses, which is most acute in the South will be ‘softened’ in the Budget. Philip Whitehurst says “I’d be surprised if the Chancellor doesn’t do something to address this inequality due to mounting pressure from a number of sources, and I hope that he goes far enough. In my view he needs to ease the exemption rules and raise the threshold so that certain size businesses are taken out of the rateable value increases altogether. I’m also concerned that this isn’t a case of “giving” with one hand only to take with the other, with increases to National Insurance and the increase of the taxes for the self-employed and reductions to pensions tax relief.”

Mr Whitehurst also expects the Chancellor to reaffirm his commitment to the Northern Powerhouse: “Further support for the Northern Powerhouse will be welcome news for Northerners. But while I’m confident the Chancellor is keen to show his support for the project I don’t expect any particularly significant announcements and any news will be in the form of supporting infrastructure previously identified rather than making any new funds available. While, I understand his cautious approach to spending, I would urge him to remember that the importance of the Northern Powerhouse can’t be understated, as I believe it will play a major role in the region’s economy post-Brexit.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Violet Brown .