Bold Spring Budget needed to kickstart business growth in 2024: Beckie Hart

But, with political stakes as high as they are, we run the risk instead of being presented with ill-costed, short-term, election giveaways.

It is a critical year for business. Business investment is set to fall by 5 per cent while costs will spiral higher as Business Rates and the National Living Wage uplifts kick in.

Economic headwinds continue to take their toll with sluggish growth and challenging demand conditions for businesses.

Setting a path for sustainable change is the only way forward. A path that avoids persistently high inflation, builds resilience in the economy and mitigates climate change.

Above all else sustainable growth requires investment in people’s skills, in infrastructure and in developing a willingness to embrace technology.

The CBI is recommending an ambitious policy agenda with innovation at its heart, to fire up the engines of the economy.

Investing in the UK’s high-growth industries from the green sector, digital and life sciences to manufacturing will cement our global reputation for excellence in technology.

We can do this by offering a world-beating support system that extends capital expenditure to Research & Development and establishing a Net Zero Investment Plan to incentivise green investment.

A concern for firms in our region is how to address skills and labour shortages, a longstanding drag on growth and balance sheets.

Expanding non-taxable health support for employees and delivering the planned expansion of eligibility to 30 hours of funded childcare would drive workforce participation, enabling business to invest and expand.

Let’s also remove barriers to growth.

Capping the business rates multiplier for another year and extending full expensing to cover rented and leased assets will help alleviate the pressure of operating in a high-cost business environment.

At the same time policies cannot come at the expense of economic stability. While CPI inflation has fallen, and is expected to decline further over the course of 2024, it currently remains double the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.

The Budget must build on economic momentum, while maintaining hard-earned credibility.

The excited chatter about fiscal headroom for tax cuts should be balanced against the unquestionable necessity for an environment of certainty and confidence for business.

The IMF’s warning this week against tax cuts shows we have to be pragmatic about the nation’s finances.

Preserving public services and raising living standards can only come to fruition with a realistic program of spending and tax cuts.

As political parties begin to set out their manifestoes, we urge them to bring a vision for growth for the next decade and beyond to the table.

Beckie Hart is Yorkshire and Humber regional director for the CBI