THE AIRLINES’ VIEW March 21, 2012 CHIEF EXECUTIVE “At a time when the government talks about creating jobs and growth, its blinkered insistence on further increases in Air Passenger Duty achieves precisely the opposite. Inbound tourism is a major employer of young people, but international visitors are being turned off the UK because of the exorbitant level of APD (air passenger [...]
THE SHADOW CHANCELLOR March 21, 2012 LABOUR’S SHADOW CHANCELLOR “In last year’s Budget the chancellor promised to ‘put fuel into the tank of the British economy’. But since then our economy has stalled and unemployment soared. This Budget should have put jobs and growth first, but the Office for Budget Responsibility delivered this damning verdict: ‘We have made no other material [...]
THE TUC March 21, 2012 GENERAL SECRETARY “We needed a Budget that looked to the future and made jobs – particularly for young people – the national priority. Instead we have got a Budget for the rich by the rich. One minute the chancellor said he found tax avoidance morally repugnant, the next he rewarded it by cutting income tax [...]
THE DIRECTORS’ VIEW March 21, 2012 DIRECTOR GENERAL “The reduction of corporation tax faster than planned is a positive step in the right direction, which we have long called for. Britain urgently needs to become a competitive, low tax economy, so the chancellor must not deviate from this path. It will take time and serious action to rebuild this country’s reputation [...]
THE ENTREPRENEUR March 21, 2012 BUSINESS FOUNDER “The government’s attention to technology infrastructure in the Budget is right. Its plans to deliver superfast broadband to 90 per cent of the population, and to fund ultra-fast broadband in 10 of the UK’s largest cities, is certainly encouraging. School for Startups is currently hosting Web Fuelled Business bootcamps around the UK and [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT ARE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET?* March 21, 2012 AMI RICHARDS | FIDELITY “It seems that, overall, the Budget looks like a good thing. The personal allowance increase was needed. People are struggling to survive because things are so hard, so the more-than £1,000 increase should hopefully help.” COLIN HALL | GRESHAM COMPUTING “I’m happy the Budget didn’t mess too badly with childcare. The [...]
The budget held few surprises for the markets March 21, 2012 CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, CITY INDEX YESTERDAY’S budget re-affirmed the balance the coalition government is attempting to strike between growth and austerity, while not delivering anything dramatic, largely due to the widespread leaking of many of the new measures in advance. This budget felt much like reading a novel and then seeing the movie; there was [...]
Cuts to deficit will calm Moody’s nerves March 21, 2012 CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST, CITY INDEX THE UK Budget has the basic requirements to keep credit agencies at bay – for now. The plan is to enact a 7 per cent stamp duty on property worth more than £2m, slash the main corporate tax rate to 24 per cent, lift the personal allowance by £1,100 to [...]
Osborne sets UK £1 trillion export target March 21, 2012 CONSERVATIVE backbenchers roared with delight as George Osborne unveiled a series of initiatives to boost businesses amid Britain’s flagging economic recovery. Their main wish had already been granted after the chancellor scrapped the 50p top rate of income tax but he also devised several moves on enterprise, investment and exports. Osborne announced a £200m increase [...]
AT A GLANCE: ENTERPRISE BRITAIN March 21, 2012 ● BUSINESS FINANCE £200m hike in the £1bn Business Finance Partnership to boost the supply of credit to medium-sized companies and ease the lending drought. ● ENTERPRISE FINANCE Increase the share of small business loans that can be placed into the scheme from 13 per cent to 20 per cent. ● ENTERPRISE ZONES 100 per [...]
