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Budget: Creating a more vibrant market economy

Cutting through the noise of party politics, I’m left questioning whether or not the Chancellor’s latest fiscal blueprint represents a growth budget.

The Autumn Budget leaned heavily on Keynesian-style public investment to stimulate growth, with major commitments to infrastructure (artificial intelligence, nuclear, transport and regional projects). 

For the North East, this means opportunities in regeneration, innovation hubs and cultural assets, though delivery depends on how much funding flows to local schemes.

The targeted welfare reform by scrapping the two-child benefit cap boosts household spending power, especially in regions like the North East where child poverty rates are high. 

Other changes, such as the increased minimum wage, will also help boost spending. 

But will these positives be offset by the increased cost of business operation and result in the growth essential to attracting investors?

Frustratingly, for personal reasons I could not attend Bdaily publisher NET’s VISION 31 event in London last week, which was an event to be applauded. 

The objective was clear: for North East businesses to encourage national and international investors to look at the region to invest in business equity, property, construction and other assets.

The message, as last year, was the same: The North East is an excellent place in which to invest and provides a good return on investment. 

It has a resilient and highly adaptable workforce, good infrastructure – which is improving and keeping pace with innovation, readily available property and is a great place to live and work. 

And if the property is not immediately available, we can build or repurpose quickly to meet needs.

We have done well to attract inward investors and to encourage nearly 1000 start-up SMEs so far this calendar year through the efforts of the North East Business Innovation Centre and its partnerships with combined and local authorities.

The budget proposes more support for start-up and scale-up SMEs, which are an essential limb to economic growth.

But we need to do more to attract private investment.

The property sector has done well under the restriction of investment in lower risk bespoke projects, rather than speculative investment. 

Property has performed well in this region, in fact, better than most other regions.

My early new year wish is that this budget is the precursor to seeing a much improved regional property sector achieving the Chancellor’s aspirations, with much greater private investment in SMEs and the property sector leading to a more vibrant market economy.

Kevan Carrick is co-founder and owner of JK Property Consultants LLP. He is a member of the RICS Land & Natural Resources Professional Group Panel that consulted on the National Planning Policy Framework, and is chair of the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC).

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