FOLLOWING Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak's 'mini budget' on Wednesday, businesses across the region have given their thoughts on the announcements.

Paul Gibson, director and chartered financial planner at Stockton-based Active Chartered Financial Planners, said: “I think the chancellor’s response was well thought out and measured. There were no shocks in terms of taxes, allowances, or pension schemes, which will allow the economy to get back on its feet.

“I was pleased to see a focus on spending, particularly in the hardest hit sectors, and investment in homes and infrastructure. This will make a real difference to people in the region who need support following a difficult period, and I think the measures introduced will have nothing but a positive impact.”

Charlene Lyons, chief executive of Black Sheep Brewery, based in Masham, North Yorkshire, said: “Pubs and restaurants are the heartbeat of communities and any measures that support them to boost footfall should be broadly welcomed. We hope people enjoy a nice pint of Black Sheep when they use their ‘eat out, help out vouchers’ for their meals in August!

The VAT cut is a step in the right direction to reinvigorate our sector, but we’d have hoped the chancellor would have gone further with a cut to Beer Duty. We pay 40 per cent of our turnover in duty, which means around £7m a year is lost to tax. A short-term cut would help with investment in our business that, in turn, helps our pub customers and our North Yorkshire supply chain.”

Nicky Jolley, founder and managing director of Darlington-based HR provider HR2day, said: “I’m delighted that the chancellor has considered how to support staff who are currently furloughed once the job retention scheme ends in October. Providing money for businesses that bring back their furloughed staff, create new jobs and provide training opportunities will all benefit, which will benefit both businesses and employees.

“I was also pleased to see that the government-imposed timescales on keeping people in employment and ensuring that jobs will be meaningful and paid appropriately. This will make sure employees aren’t exploited and the businesses benefit from good quality work.”

Ian Wardle, CEO of Teesside-based housing provider Thirteen, said: “Today’s announcement about the stamp duty holiday is very much welcome and builds on the Governments support announced last week of £12 billion to build new affordable homes over the next 5 years. This investment will help thousands of people to secure much-needed new homes, support many jobs in the construction and property sector and help alleviate the housing crisis.”

Phil Pallister, managing director of Houghton-le-Spring-based 0800 Repair, which delivers specialist domestic energy services for heating, plumbing, renewables and insulation undertaking around 15,000 services and repairs each year, said: “The Green Homes Grant scheme is a win-win for the environment, householders and our industry. It will support thousands of jobs in our sector, with the potential to generate more as the public take up these grants, which will improve the sustainability of their properties and reduce carbon emissions."

“We already have a large team undertaking these kinds of projects, but there is real potential to grow our workforce and create new jobs in the North East as we support homeowners and our social housing customers.”

Rosemary Du Rose, CEO of Beyond Housing, said: “The announcement by the Chancellor is in many ways a welcome one. Beyond Housing has a strong history of supporting apprenticeships and understands how they enrich the workplace, alongside helping to develop committed and skilled colleagues for the future. We believe young people are at greatest risk of being displaced from the job market due to coronavirus.

"Therefore we fully support the announced schemes, such as Kickstart, which will help prevent a lost generation from realising their potential.

“We also believe that measures to support the tourism and hospitality industries, which are the lifeblood of many of our communities, will be essential to helping the region remain buoyant over what will be an unusual summer. Due to the high number of microbusinesses and SMEs that make up our regional economy, we hope these measures will prove successful in helping them navigate this challenging time.

“Finally, it is also extremely pleasing to see focus given to ‘green collar’ growth, as we see this as a significant obstacle facing the social housing sector over the next decade; however, we feel the announced £50m Demonstrator Project Funding falls short of what the sector needs to in order to meet this challenge. We look forward to future announcements on this matter recognising the huge potential it has for driving economic growth.”