Here’s what business owners from all over the region had to say about the newly passed budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s announcement generated a lot of interest and debate with her plan. The budget builds on these efforts with huge measures, such as abolishing the two-child benefit cap from April 2026 and raising the minimum wage. These provisions have generated significant hope and concern from respective industries.
Jane Calcott, of Kettering Food Bank, said that while the large-family aspect of the budget would have a significant positive effect on long unsustainable homelife. She stated that removing the two-child benefit cap would “make an enormous difference to large families,” suggesting that this change could alleviate some financial burdens for those in need.
On the flipside, within the hospitality industry, hotel and restaurant owners were quick to express their dismay about the budget’s potential effects. Jenni Smith, the owner of Duston Village Bakery, slammed the move to raise the national minimum wage. She hung her head as she underscored the dire situation – her only choice is to increase costs. Smith further noted that these increasing costs directly impact her bottom line and make it harder for her to run her business successfully.
Miranda Richardson, the new landlady of The Squirrels pub, expressed much the same mood. She noted that the wage increases would apply to all staff, not just her department’s employees. Beyond that, she stressed that the focus should be on costs of operating a hospitality business. “VAT was huge in hospitality and a reduction for us was a massive thing – and nothing; that’s what we wanted, that’s what we needed,” Richardson remarked, indicating her disappointment with the lack of tax relief.
Mark Gee, landlord of the Crown Pub in Wellingborough. He called the current state of the hospitality sector “the perfect storm and a bit of a disaster” following Reeves’ budget release. He underscored the positive impact of the minimum wage on youth and seasonal workers. He raised the very real difficulties it poses for small businesses such as his. “It’s the minimum wage that kills us massively. I’ve got 16 staff for a little small business,” he explained.
Mike Carson, 59, an automotive engineer who lives about 30 miles from Detroit, said he has felt “punished” by budget cuts in recent years. He announced that he would be delaying his retirement plans until next year. Financial pressures, now exacerbated by the recent appropriations debacle, are the cause for this hold up. “My ambition was to retire at the end of this year, but that’s going to have to be delayed,” Carson stated.
Even with those criticisms, many business owners were glad to see positive measures in the budget. Martin Mason, a local business owner in that region, thanked the initiative for providing paid and free apprenticeships to youth. He dubbed it a “Brexit bonus” for British manufacturing. As exciting as that announcement was on its face, he pointed out the lack of any substantive support for business in the larger budget. “Anything to support British manufacturing has got to be a bonus, but it didn’t seem there was an awful lot there for business,” Mason said.
Additionally, he commented on the series of challenges businesses have endured in recent times, particularly the effects of Covid-19 and Brexit. “We’ve had Covid to deal with, we’ve had Brexit, which had a profound effect on our exports into Europe. They could have done a lot more,” he remarked.
Main Street merchants and entrepreneurs are doing their best to figure out how Reeves’ budget will affect their businesses. Responses vary greatly, and passion about these responses is intense. The choices outlined in this budget will set the course for their plans in the years to come. They’ll have to do so in an ever more complicated economic environment.