News

All eyes will be on The Chancellor of the Exchequer when she reveals the Autumn Budget this Wednesday afternoon.  

Prior to the Budget, we’ve taken the time to write to Rachel Reeves, MP with a list of some of the announcements we hope to hear:

Dear Chancellor of the Exchequer,

Our most recent Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) results suggest a rise in the number of businesses who are pausing investment in plant, machinery and training.   We hear anecdotal evidence of businesses holding back on commitments.  Business confidence is far from certain and we hope this will improve through the announcements you will be making in your Budget.

We have concerns about the future of business support programmes, with the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) due to end on 31st March 2025.   We recognise that the new government may want to proceed with this provision in a different format but we urge the government to provide rollover funding for at least the 2025-26 fiscal year, enabling a smooth switch over and avoiding a catastrophic cliff-edge for business support. 

Staffordshire Chambers’ of Commerce continues to deliver business support programmes across our region.  We’re best placed to deliver business support, simply because we have that clear understanding of our local economy and the businesses in the region.  Business support programmes serve as a catalyst for future growth.  We ask for clarity and simplification of any future programmes of business support.

We are the appointed deliverer of the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) and have bridged the gap between the training demanded by business and the training on offer through local training providers.  Further government support is needed to build on this success and we ask for an extension to the Local Skills Improvement Fund, which allows training providers to invest in the skills and technology they need to meet the skills needs of businesses, aligned to our LSIP priorities.  

We lend our supportfor an expansion of full expensing to include leased assets, in recognition of the fact that not all businesses own their machinery or find themselves in a position to buy new plant and other assets.     

Now is a good time to carry out further reform of the business rates system.  This review should look at the idea of annual revaluations cycle and a lowering of the multiplier.  In addition, we would like to see progress in looking at the future relationship between taxation of in-person and online sales.

We welcomed the raising of the VAT registration threshold to £90,000 but even at an increased level, it still serves as a disincentive to businesses wishing to grow.  We call on government to restart the VAT registration review and explore a smoothing mechanism to decrease the bunching effect and limit administrative complexity.

Anecdotal feedback from our members has called for the need to review the current (R&D) tax relief enforcement campaign, ensuring that it acts in a manner which reduces the collateral damage to the economy, the accounting profession, and legitimate claimants.  We hope to see improved accountability and improved HMRC caseworker training.

We would also welcome clear and transparent consultation being delivered by government, when changes to the tax system are proposed.

Kind regards

Staffordshire Chambers’ of Commerce

Please join us on the morning after the Budget (Thursday 31^st), for our Post Budget Breakfast, In partnership with RSM, a leading audit, tax and consulting advisory firm, and wealth experts, Ironmarket Wealth.  Our expert line up of guest speakers will walk us through the Budget announcements, allowing you to consider how proposed adjustments may affect your financial planning and long-term business viability.  Click here to book your place:

Post-Budget Breakfast with RSM – Staffordshire Chambers

Last week, the government announced the launch of a consultation on its Industrial Strategy and new Advisory Council.  It’s been seven years in the making and claims to create a pro-business environment.  The Strategy will focus on eight key sectors, which offer the highest growth opportunity for the economy and business:

1. Advanced Manufacturing.
2. Clean Energy Industries.
3. Creative Industries.
4. Defence.
5. Digital and Technologies.
6. Financial Services.
7. Life Sciences.
8. Professional and Business Services.

We need your help to decide what it should look like.  We recognise that consistent and reliable policy measures are the best way to ensure that businesses can plan effectively for the future.  

The Industrial Strategy will play a pivotal role in the UK’s future growth agenda but it has to be clear on how it will maximise the country’s competitive advantage, as well as integrating the regional strengths of the different parts of the country.    Digital Staffordshire and Green Staffordshire are two of the five themes within our Staffordshire Chambers’ of Commerce Manifesto and we need to ensure that digital innovation and green are at the front and centre of investment in infrastructure and skills. 

Our British Chambers’ of Commerce (BCC) colleagues have called for the creation of a new supply chain taskforce, which will support future resilience.  The pandemic and global conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have only served to highlight the UK’s reliance on global markets for energy, communications technology and manufacturing components. 

This public consultation will inform the development of the new Industrial Strategy, as well as the government’s proposed plan to create long-term, inclusive, secure and sustainable growth.  The final industrial strategy will be published in spring 2025.  The government is keen to get the views of business and you have until the end of Sunday 24^th November 2024, to join the consultation and share your views.  Click here for further details:

Invest 2035: the UK’s modern industrial strategy – GOV.UK

The Industrial Strategy is sure to feature in upcoming meetings between our members and local Members of Parliament.  It’s more than three months since the General Election and we’ve been working to connect our member businesses with the newly elected MP from across our patch.  In recent weeks, we’ve met with Leigh Ingham (MP for Stafford), David Williams (MP for Stoke-on-Trent North) and Sir Gavin Williamson (MP for Stone, Great Wyrley & Penkridge).

During November, we’ll be meeting with Dame Karen Bradley (MP for Staffordshire Moorlands), Allison Gardner (MP for Stoke-on-Trent South) and Adam Jogee (MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme).  In December, we’ll be meeting with Gareth Snell (MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central).

In our most recent ‘Meet the MP’ meetings, we’ve had some lively and constructive discussions around areas such as transport, skills, green infrastructure and energy.  Any business can have a 1:1 meeting with their respective MP but joining your fellow Chamber member businesses, creates a real dynamism.   Our Meet the MP meetings are open to Chamber members.  Advanced booking is essential and you can book your place through the events page on our website:

Events from Mon 21st October – Fri 25th October – Staffordshire Chambers

It was the first post-General Election QES and as usual, the results make for interesting reading!

Survey findings suggest a slowing down of both domestic and overseas sales.  There was growth in the number of companies reporting expansion of workforce over the last 3 months but a drop in the number of businesses who expect their workforce to grow in the coming months.  

When it comes to investment, QES reported a drop in the number of businesses investing in plant, machinery and capital during Q3.   This ties in with anecdotal evidence we’re hearing on the ground, about businesses holding back on investment and preferring to ‘wait and see’ what is announced in the Chancellor’s Budget later this month.  The indicators appear to suggest that business confidence is on hold until at least 30.10.24.  It’s a picture which is replicated by the national QES results.

In other areas of the QES, taxation is now the most commonly cited concern.  This has overtaken interest rates and inflation, with results suggesting a “tax anxiety” for many business owners.  Breaking this down further, manufacturers and smaller small to medium sized enterprises (SME), are more likely to have concerns about tax.   SME operating in the services sector (e.g. hospitality), are still more concerned about inflation.  Responses suggest that expectations of price increases are starting to level off, with labour costs regarded as the main cost pressure for business.

Within each QES, we also have capacity to add one-off questions about specific topics.  Our latest QES asked businesses for feedback on Artificial Intelligence (AI), something which is becoming increasingly relevant for many business sectors.  Almost half of respondents (44.4%) suggested that they expect to increase their use/adoption of AI in the next year. 

We also asked about future requirement for staff to be fluent in an overseas language.  Only 6.35% of respondents suggested that this is relevant, with French and German scoring as the most popular languages.

With business confidence seemingly on hold, all eyes will be watching the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s maiden Budget speech on Wednesday 30^th October.   We’ll be writing to Rachel Reeves with a number of key Budget ‘asks’ but once the Budget has been delivered, you’ll have the chance to have a more detailed guide to what any announcements will mean for you and your business.  Join us for our Post Budget Breakfast on the morning of Thursday 31^st October, kindly hosted by RSM.   You’ll get expert analysis and a summary of the key tax measures from the Budget and how any changes may impact your investment strategies and succession planning.

Join us for what promises to be a fascinating and informative update.  Click here to book your place:

Post-Budget Breakfast with RSM – Staffordshire Chambers

Let’s Do Business, Staffordshire’s largest annual business expo, made history at Uttoxeter Racecourse yesterday with its biggest-ever turnout of delegates and exhibitors.

Headlined by prominent figures from the world of sport, including Stoke City Sporting Director Jon Walters and three-time Olympic gold medalist Ed Clancy OBE, the event offered attendees a unique insight into leadership, resilience, and high performance.

Attendees took full advantage of the day’s extensive networking opportunities, with exhibitors representing a wide range of industries.

Rachel Laver, CEO of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “The turnout has been phenomenal.

“We’ve worked tirelessly to make Let’s Do Business 2024 our biggest and best expo yet, and I’m thrilled with the response.

We’ve never had this many exhibitors or delegates attending, making this year’s event a landmark moment for the business community in Staffordshire.”

Visitors connected with potential partners, clients, and collaborators, while also gaining invaluable insights from industry experts on everything from digital transformation to sustainability.

Rachel added: “This event is a staple in the Chamber calendar, and the energy here today has been incredible.

It’s fantastic to see so many businesses coming together to share ideas, make connections, and look to the future with optimism.”

As the political party conference season heads to a close, we’re taking the opportunity to meet with our local Members of Parliament.  As the voice of our members, we’re here to lobby and represent the views of the local business community, connecting them with key political leaders and decision makers. 

It’s almost three months since the General Election, with the results helping to reshape the political landscape in our county.  In North Staffordshire, four out of the five constituencies changed colour, with only Dame Karen Bradley retaining the Staffordshire Moorlands constituency.  Of the four winning MP across Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle under Lyme, three are completely new to the role, with only Gareth Snell having past experience as a Member of Parliament, in recapturing the Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency.

Prior to the General Election, we launched our Staffordshire Chambers’ of Commerce Business Manifesto and this was shared with all prospective Parliamentary candidates.  Our Manifesto rests on five key themes:

• Connected Staffordshire
• Digital Staffordshire
• Global Staffordshire
• Green Staffordshire
• Skilled Staffordshire

You can view the Manifesto by clicking the link:

Business Manifesto 2024 – Flipbook – Page 1 (paperturn-view.com)

Not surprisingly, our discussions with the Members of Parliament will align with these five themes, as well as opening into wider conversation around levels of business confidence, devolution and what could be a critical Budget for business, due to be announced on Wednesday 30^th October.

Last Friday, we sat down with Leigh Ingham, newly elected MP for Stafford.  The shape of this constituency has changed and now extends as far north as Eccleshall.   In the space of an hour, we had a really positive discussion around topics such as bringing high quality and well-paid jobs into the area, which will help to retain graduates and other learners, to drive the local economy.  Newcastle & Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) will be unveiling a new Institute of Technology (IoT) at its Stafford campus in 2025.  A welcome boost for the area.

With exceptional rail connectivity to four of the UK’s largest conurbations and two junctions to the M6, Stafford (along with the rest of the county), is very well connected.

Like many towns the length and breadth of the UK, Stafford’s town centre has struggled to cope with a drop in footfall, largely influenced by how we choose to shop in 2024.  A number of initiatives are being delivered to pump prime one key development in town, ready to incentivise much needed developer financial support but we discussed how other measures such as hosting outpatients’ treatment in the town centre, will give more of us a purpose to visit Stafford and spend our cash in local shops.     We agreed that we can play our part in amplifying news about positive developments such as the IoT. 

Our meeting moved on to the topic of business confidence, with our most recent Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), suggesting a fall in the number of businesses who are investing in plant, machinery and equipment.  Anecdotal feedback suggests that many businesses are holding back on commitment, until the Chancellor announces her Budget next month. 

Our round of ‘Meet the MP’ meetings continues when we meet David Williams, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North (today – 30^th), Sir Gavin Williamson (MP for Stone, Great Wyrley & Penkridge – 11^th October) and Dame Karen Bradley, MP for Staffordshire Moorlands (15^th November).   You can meet your MP for a 1:1 meeting but there is a real synergy when we bring you together as a group of member businesses.  Why not join us at a future ‘Meet the MP’ meeting?   You can book your place through the events page on our website: https://staffordshirechambers.co.uk/events-calendar

A new survey has been launched to explore the rapid growth of the digital and IT sector in North Staffordshire. Led by Staffordshire University and the University of Manchester, the research aims to gather insights from businesses operating in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and the Staffordshire Moorlands to better understand the region’s emerging IT landscape.

Early findings from the research indicate a strong and expanding IT sector, with businesses showing high levels of productivity. The survey seeks to capture a more detailed picture of this growth, and organisers are encouraging all digital and IT businesses in the region to participate.

All businesses that complete the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win one of five £100 Love to Shop vouchers, redeemable at over 90 popular retail brands.

To take part in the survey, businesses can visit survey link

Dynamic, influential and forward-thinking business leaders are invited to register their interest in joining the Chambers’ Council and/or Local Area Advisory Boards (LAAB) for Stafford and the Staffordshire Moorlands ahead of Friday’s 5pm deadline.

By becoming a Council or LAAB member, you’ll be part of a supportive network of leading local businesses that are all keen to address business challenges, share best practices and help the business community to thrive and prosper.

Council and LAAB Members are elected by the Chambers’ membership to represent their peers and work as advocates for the Chambers and the private sector.

Together with the Chambers, they have the power to increase the prosperity of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire and the local community by forging outstanding connections and lobbying local authorities and the Government for a better business environment.

Don’t just take our word for it, though! Hear what some of our existing Council and Board members have to say below.

Council and Local Area Advisory Board members are expected to attend up to five meetings per year. Meetings typically last for around two hours and aim to discuss a range of business issues affecting Staffordshire. The meetings include a guest speaker on a topic relevant to the local area and provide a great opportunity to increase local knowledge and to influence the local business landscape.

To register an expression of interest, please email rebecca.stubbs@Staffordshirechambers.co.uk

Staffordshire Chambers is delighted to announce that we will now be hosting monthly drop-in clinics across three locations: Stoke, Stafford, and the Moorlands.

These sessions, held on the last Friday of every month, provide a fantastic opportunity for businesses to seek advice, network, and explore growth opportunities.

The first clinic will take place on 27th September with a specific focus for each location:

• Membership at Commerce House, Festival Park.
• Export Documentation at Shire Hall, Stafford.
• Growth Hub Services at Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek.

Feel free to drop in even if your questions aren’t related to the session’s focus—our team is happy to help with any business topic.

All sessions will run from 10am to 12pm, and there’s no need to book—just drop in!

It’s free, and a member of the Chambers team will be available to talk through any business-related queries, from membership and documentation to business growth strategies.

Whether you’re based in Stoke, Stafford, or the Moorlands, we’re here to support your business journey—come along and chat with us!

Local solicitors are once again waiving their will-writing fees to support Dougie Mac’s Make A Will Month.

The October campaign will see 17 local solicitors, including an online Will Writer, generously waive their usual fees to draft or amend a basic Will in exchange for a donation to Dougie Mac.

Lauren Stanley, Senior Legacy Fundraiser at Dougie Mac, explains, “Although it’s not easy to think about, writing a Will is really important as it gives you the opportunity to decide exactly what will happen to your property, finances, and possessions after you die. If you’ve been putting off writing your Will, or just don’t know where to start, Dougie Mac’s Make a Will Month is an opportunity to get your plans in order while supporting your local hospice.

“Anyone considering leaving a gift to Dougie Mac in their Will, whether that’s a set amount or a percentage of their estate, can have a basic Will drafted for free by a participating local solicitor. If you’re not sure about leaving a gift to Dougie Mac in the future but want to support the hospice now, you can make a donation and still take part in the campaign.”

Dougie Mac’s Make A Will Month also applies to people who already have a Will but need to update it, especially if personal circumstances have changed. Lauren added, “If you’ve had a baby, moved house, got married, or divorced, it’s important to update your Will to ensure your wishes are met. Without a Will, the law dictates what happens to your assets.

“Every donation we receive through Make A Will month makes a real difference and enables us to continue our care and support services for local families. Leaving a legacy donation to Dougie Mac ensures we have income we can rely on in the future and enables us to plan ahead to make sure our specialist care is available in the years to come. We understand that taking care of your loved ones is a priority, which is why we are so grateful for every gift we receive when someone has passed away.”

Full details of Dougie Mac’s Make a Will Month and how to take part are available at: www.dougiemac.org.uk/gifts-in-wills  Supporters can also contact Dougie Mac’s Legacy Team on 01782 344308.