Business confidence must be priority for Sunak, says chamber boss

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce responded to the confirmation of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister – and the Conservative Party's third leader of the year – by warning there must now be a focus on stability.

The chamber's chief executive Richard Sheehan said: “We cannot afford to see any more chopping and changing of policies.

“The business community needs to see a viable, sustainable long-term plan which it can believe in.”

He added: “As the British Chambers of Commerce says, the political and economic uncertainty of the past few months has been hugely damaging to business confidence and must now come to an end.

“The new Prime Minister must be a steady hand on the tiller to see the economy through the challenging conditions ahead.

“This means setting out fully-costed plans to deal with the big issues facing businesses; soaring energy bills, labour shortages, spiralling inflation, and climbing interest rates.”

Mr Sheehan said businesses need to be able to plan with certainty after a period of extreme turmoil.

He said: "We know from the results of our latest quarterly survey that there is a real nervousness in the Shropshire business community over inflation, energy costs, and interest rates.

“It is vital we see progress made in these areas so that businesses can plan for 2023, and have an idea what support to expect in the medium and long term.

“Action is also needed to fix the extremely tight labour market. Shropshire companies which are trying to expand are unable to find suitable staff, and there is a danger that the economy will stagnate.”