The Chamber’s Economic Committee met yesterday and wants wider membership input for a letter we are writing to the Chancellor, George Osborne. We will be setting out a list of proposed measures ahead of the Budget which we’ll include in full in next week’s Chamber News.

Starting with full delivery of the Northern Hub project, we are also asking him to postpone the 5.6% increase in business rates which will affect so many of our members. We also want him to lift the annual investment allowance back to £100,000 from £25,000 per year, to give you more money to grow and invest.

Finally, we’ll be asking for an extension to a further round of the Regional Growth Fund. The total cost to Government will be approximately £6 billion but this will help create the funds and confidence to kickstart growth and jobs. Let us know your thoughts at actionforbusiness@gmchamber.co.uk