Businesses feeling positive about outlook after Budget

Two thirds (64 per cent) of businesses feel that the measures outlined in Wednesday’s Budget will have a positive effect on their business, with more than a quarter of businesses (28 per cent) also stating that the Budget will have a positive effect on their staffing levels.

Reed Finance, the senior and executive-level financial recruitment specialist, polled 50 senior finance professionals at its annual Budget breakfast briefing on Thursday 24 March. The results also showed that while businesses are largely supportive of the government’s plans to reduce the UK Budget deficit, they are divided on whether the government is doing enough to stimulate enterprise, with  half (48 per cent) believing that they are doing enough and half (46 per cent) disagreeing.

Tim Vye, divisional director of Reed Finance, said: “There is a lot for businesses to be positive about in the Budget and our poll of senior finance professionals shows that it has created some optimism, which is crucial for a buoyant jobs market.

“However, businesses remain nervous with only 12 per cent believing that the measures in the Budget will succeed in making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business. With the backdrop of the contraction of the economy in the last quarter of 2010 and looming public sector spending cuts, it is important that job creation in the private sector is stimulated both for the economy and to provide employment for public sector workers. Employers need to have confidence in the UK economy and their business’s outlook before signing off on any hiring plans.”

Reed Finance’s research also found that businesses are positive about the plans to invest in apprenticeships and work experience to tackle youth unemployment, with close to two thirds (62%) stating that these plans will have a positive effect on their organisation. However, only 14 per cent of those surveyed agree that the Budget will help create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.

Over half (56 per cent) of businesses surveyed believe that the consultation to simplify tax by combining NI and income tax will have a positive effect on their business and 72 per cent said that the corporation tax reduction will have a positive impact on their business. However, 40 per cent of businesses do not agree that the plans outlined in the Budget will succeed in creating the most competitive tax system in the G20. And, perhaps surprisingly, 48 per cent of businesses think that the plans to remove £350m worth of business regulation will have no impact on their organisation.

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