Profits, investment hit by UK budget: CBI; calls for amplifying growth

At the CBI’s Annual Conference, Newton-Smith urged the government to shift from consultation to co-design and called for closer collaboration between firms and the government.

“Tax rises like this must never again simply be done to business," she said.

She launched the CBI’s new Blueprint for Competitiveness, a policy framework for enhancing the United Kingdom’s competitiveness against a shifting global landscape.

She called for action on the pressing challenges facing business, including a faster and more transformative timetable for business rates reform, flexibility on the apprenticeship levy and boosting occupational health incentives to support the health of the workforce.

She urged the government to build for the long-term by using the Industrial Strategy to mobilise the ‘everyday economy’ behind the races the country can win.

The government should pull key growth levers to get the economy moving, by going further on technology adoption, planning reform and regulation, she noted.

“On tax, our complicated rulebook craves simplification that is bold ... and digitalisation that saves business time…. On tech adoption, there’s extra support for manufacturers through Made Smarter. But if we can push that to more sectors, if we can get just 25 per cent more small firms adopting new tech, then we can add £45 billion to our economy by the end of the decade,” she added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)