Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to take urgent action in the Autumn Budget on November 26 to ease the growing pain felt by employers from rising taxes, wage costs and policy uncertainty.
Interim Chief Executive Chris Plant has warned in a letter to the Treasury that confidence and investment across the county are in sharp decline.
The Chamber’s Budget submission, sent to the Treasury, reflects feedback from members and input from its Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) which provides a detailed snapshot of business mood and experience across all sectors and the whole county.
It warns that government decisions on National Insurance, the Minimum Living Wage and business taxation are directly suppressing recruitment and investment.
The latest QES showed just 36 per cent of businesses are currently attempting to hire, down from more than 50 per cent a year ago, with falling investment in plant, machinery and training.
Chris said: “Businesses are telling us of the pain they feel from last year’s Budget. We need a Budget that backs enterprise and growth. No more tax rises.”
The Chamber calls for a freeze on all new business taxes, arguing that tax burdens “stifle growth, restrict innovation, and reduce job creation.”
It demands urgent reform of business rates, including a permanently lower 45p multiplier for all businesses and the scrapping of plans to raise rates for properties over £500,000, a move that would hit major employers in manufacturing, hospitality and retail.
The Chamber also warns that Staffordshire’s globally recognised ceramics sector, worth £2 billion a year to the UK economy is missing out on support, with nine in ten manufacturers set to miss out on energy discounts due to flawed eligibility rules.
Chris said: “The ceramics industry has the potential to drive a national manufacturing revival. But that can only happen with fair recognition and targeted government support.”
The submission calls for renewed long-term investment in skills through the Local Skills Improvement Plan, extension of business support funding beyond March 2026, and immediate progress on strategic infrastructure projects such as the A50/A500 North Midlands Manufacturing Corridor, which could create 39,000 new jobs.
Chris added: “Business support creates and safeguards jobs., It fuels innovation. It strengthens local economies.
“We need clarity, consistency and confidence, not cliff edges and uncertainty. Businesses are ready to invest, recruit and grow. Government must now give them the confidence to do so.”
Retirees should make the effort to work and iff necessary on a vo basis to get the economy on the up.