Reacting to the announcement of the new Prime Minister, Nova Fairbank, CEO of Norfolk Chambers, said: “We would like to congratulate Liz Truss on running a successful campaign to become the UK’s new Prime Minister.
“She must now take immediate steps to support the economy. The last few months have been difficult for everyone, time is running out and urgent action is needed to deal with the costs’ crisis.
“We believe the country has already entered a recession and that inflation will hit at least 14% in the months ahead.
“Like households, firms have been telling us of unsustainable rises in their energy bills and how difficult it is to find new fixed term contracts to buffer against further price hikes.
“Unless the new Prime Minister addresses these problems head-on then the economy will drift further into dangerous waters and the outlook for both businesses and consumers will be bleak indeed.
“The British Chambers of Commerce on behalf of the wider Chamber network set out a five-point action plan to support businesses at the end of August and sent it to the Treasury and Liz Truss’ team. It is now imperative that we see movement on our proposals.
The BCC five-point plan has the full endorsement of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, which in turn provided evidence from the county’s businesses and is aimed at supporting businesses by:
- Ofgem to be given more power to strengthen regulation of the energy market for businesses
- Temporary cut in VAT to 5% to reduce energy costs for businesses
- Covid-style support by introducing Government Emergency Energy Grant for SMEs
- Temporarily reverse employer NIC and put money back into the pockets of businesses and workers
- Government to immediately review and reform the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) to help bring down wage pressures and fill staffing vacancies
“We congratulate Ms Truss on her appointment as Prime Minister and strongly encourage her to adopt the Chamber network’s five-point plan. The plan is not solely about ensuring support for businesses. It is also about protecting jobs, securing livelihoods, and creating a vibrant and prosperous society for everyone. Good business is good for Norfolk, and we want to work in collaboration with Ms Truss and her new government to support local businesses, and the individuals that run them, to ride out this economic storm.
“Similarly, we are keen to ensure that Norfolk benefits from levelling up investment. At a recent campaign husting in Norwich, Ms Truss advised that, as the MP for South West Norfolk for the last 12 years, she had a strong understanding of the region and its strengths, but also the challenges we face.
“She promised to deliver levelling up for not just her constituency and Norfolk, but for the whole of East Anglia. She pledged to look closely at dualling the whole of the A47, as well as considering the commitment to the Norwich Western Link Road and the improvements of Ely railway junction – all of which would support economic growth, housing and jobs in Norfolk.
“Norfolk Chambers and our members look forward to collaborating with our new Prime Minister and her Ministers to deliver greater economic growth and opportunities for our region.”
Image originally supplied for a Dept. of International Trade webinar
