Budget 2025: Shropshire business leaders' hopes and predictions ahead of Chancellor's speech
All eyes will descend on Westminster this week as Rachel Reeves stands up in the House of Commons to deliver her autumn Budget.
The Chancellor is grappling with a host of issues including inheritance tax for farmers, other mooted tax changes, skills and apprenticeships and the seemingly never-ending need to build more houses.
Business leaders in Shropshire have been outlining their wishes ahead of Ms Reeves' speech on Wednesday (November 26).
Adrian Musgrave - Manufacturer
Engineering and manufacturing group Bridgnorth Aluminium is calling on the Chancellor to give industry certainty in her speech. The company, which produces flat rolled aluminium coils, also says it wants to see urgent help to mitigate rising energy prices and other immediate support.
Bridgnorth Aluminium, which employs more than 300 people in the county, believes the metals and manufacturing sectors also need to avoid a repeat of the tax rises seen in last year's Autumn Statement.
Management wants aluminium to receive the same standing and political attention as steel.
Commercial director Adrian Musgrave said: "Manufacturers don't want handouts, we just want a level playing field to compete with our international rivals and that means the Government resisting the urge to increase the already difficult tax burdens we face.
"The UK has the highest energy bills in the G7 and, to put this into perspective, each month we pay over £1 million for our electricity and gas. Aluminium must be recognised as a key foundation material for advanced manufacturing.
"Skills is another major issue and we would welcome any changes to courses that accelerate the ability for young people to learn greater technical skills.
"We are passionate about UK manufacturing and are deeply committed to the evolution of our Bridgnorth facility.
"There are investment plans in place but to press the button on these we need the right economic conditions."
Tom Bradshaw - Farming Chief
The president of trade union the National Farmers' Union says the forthcoming family farm tax is not "a fair and balanced approach to reform".
NFU chief Tom Bradshaw said the move did little to target those who were seeking to shelter wealth from inheritance tax but instead put the heaviest burden on working farming families including those in Shropshire.
"Many will not be able to afford the tax at all while others will have to halt investing in their businesses to pay it," he said.
"Multiple solutions have now been provided which would better protect Britain's family farms while generating the required revenue for the Treasury. This issue has not and will not go away.
"The Government still has time to adjust the policy in the upcoming Budget so it is more targeted and prevents working families, and the growth of the farming sector, from becoming collateral damage."
A solicitor involved in the Supreme Court victory against private hire firm Uber has warned that the Chancellor's proposed ‘taxi tax' could have damaging and unfair consequences for vulnerable passengers across the UK.
Layla Barke-Jones - Solicitor
Layla Barke-Jones, dispute resolution partner at Shropshire practice Aaron & Partners, represented Delta Taxis in the case that successfully defended the right of operators outside London to avoid charging VAT on all fares.
But with reports suggesting the Chancellor is considering forcing all operators to charge VAT, she warns the move would undo years of legal progress.
She said: "We are very concerned at the murmurings around the potential for Rachel Reeves to announce a ‘taxi tax' in the upcoming Budget.
"While a consultation on VAT in private hire was launched by the previous Government to address the potential inequality that obligatory VAT on private hire fares would introduce, the recent Supreme Court judgment brought long-awaited clarity to thousands of private hire operators.
"The highest court in the land confirmed that the long-standing business models used by operators up and down the country remain lawful and that VAT isn't therefore automatically required to be charged on private hire fares.
"That outcome helped protect passengers from consequential fare increases while allowing local businesses to continue operating in a way that suits their size and structure.
"We must not lose sight of who this impacts. Private hire taxis are a vital service for people who rely on them for essential everyday travel, particularly elderly passengers disabled people, and lower-income households."
Jennifer Hughes - Engineer
Jennifer Hughes, general manager of Telford-based engineering firm Transicon, is urging the Government to reverse recent changes to R&D tax relief that have hit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
She said: "The numbers speak for themselves - we used to get around 40p to 45p back for every pound we invested in our people working on R&D projects.
"Now we're looking at just 15p back. That's a massive difference for a company like ours. When you're making decisions about whether to take on risky, innovative projects, you used to factor in that you'd save about half the cost through the tax relief.
"Now it's barely worth considering. We don't have the deep pockets to absorb failures so tax relief was crucial in encouraging us to push boundaries and develop new solutions."
Neil Lloyd - Solicitor
Neil Lloyd is chief executive of Shropshire law firm FBC Manby Bowdler and chairman of the Midlands-based Training and Manufacturing Group.
He says the Chancellor should be brave with her choices but warns that businesses are already at breaking point.
He said: "We've seen from the unusual decision to give a pre-Budget speech that we should all be prepared and there was a warning of 'difficult choices' coming. We can only hope she sticks to her promise of fairness.
"For us and our clients, any increase in minimum wage needs to be reasonable and inflation linked. Last April's rise was almost double inflation and, coupled with the increase in National Insurance contributions, has no doubt led to some of the slowdown in the jobs market.
"We also saw an increase in Capital Gains Tax and our clients have planned appropriately so any further changes would be unwelcome. Businesses across multiple sectors are saying they simply don't have the headroom in their own budgets for more taxation without a proper plan for growth."
Paul Inions - Construction Contractor
Paul Inions is managing director of civil engineering and construction contractor McPhillips in Telford and chairman of trade body Shropshire Constructing Excellence.
He said his sector needed "clarity and genuine support, not just promises and announcements".
He said: "We've heard plenty about infrastructure investment plans but what we need now is action that translates into real, deliverable projects.
"What I'd really like to see is a commitment to fast-tracking infrastructure projects that are already planned but stuck in bureaucratic processes. We have the skills and capacity to deliver but too often we're waiting for decisions rather than getting on with the job.
"The West Midlands has huge potential with the new town developments and infrastructure plans but these need proper funding commitments and streamlined approval processes."We need fewer announcements and more spades in the ground."
Graham Corfield - Aviation Manufacturer
Graham Corfield is chief executive of Telford firm Aviramp, which makes aviation ramps, and he says he holds out few hopes that the Budget will be positive for business.
"I would have hoped that this Budget would be the time when the Government finally started delivering on its promises to create growth," he said.
"There has been a lot of talk about it but little action. In fact, the National Insurance increase last year did quite the opposite. I would also like to see action to bring down the cost of creating new jobs so that it is much more attractive to businesses to grow their headcounts.
"At the moment, we are penalised for taking on new staff which is hardly a recipe for growth.
"I very much hope the Chancellor ignores calls to put additional taxes on air travel and aviation fuel, the result of which will only be to reduce customer demand and hit our ability to compete globally. But I suspect what we will actually get will be more taxation."
Amy Bould - PR and Communications Specialist
Amy Bould is the managing director of communications agency Be Bold Media in Newport. She said the Chancellor had shown time and time again that she had "zero idea" how businesses run with "no experience of how SMEs are operating at the coalface".
"I think the Chancellor is living in a dream world where she thinks working people are not the same people who own, manage and run businesses which employ working people and, in turn, drive growth," Ms Bould said.
"We work with businesses across multiple sectors and we see the same issues popping up again and again. This isn't a political statement - the previous Government couldn't get it right either.
"What we want to see is some real commitment to working with Britain's SMEs to create the conditions for growth and prosperity.
"That can't be public sector led - it needs buy-in from the private sector."
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