Tata's £4bn electric car battery plant must be just start of supercharging green investment: Beckie Hart

High inflation, coupled with stubborn labour shortages and lacklustre productivity has made for a tough business environment and here at the CBI, we will be using the recess period to identify policy solutions.

Many firms across the UK are struggling to fill vacant roles.

The Government has announced new additions to the shortage occupation list, which will – in part - ease the pressures created by a tight labour market.

That will help some of the firms hard-hit by staff shortages. In construction, for example, vacancies are a staggering 65 per cent higher in comparison to pre-pandemic levels – with an overall increase of 42 per cent across the UK economy, according to the Migration Advisory Committee.

And whilst targeted interventions are helpful, there needs to be a comprehensive resolution to the UK’s skills problem.

No more band-aids – firms are looking for strategic thinking that confronts the challenges Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic have left us with.

That undoubtedly has to include work on skills too – upskilling our existing workforce to get them ready to embrace new opportunities is key to solving the UK’s productivity puzzle.

But there’s more to be done to fully realise the UK’s economic potential. Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata announced last week that it will build a £4 billion electric car battery plant in Somerset. That’s great news for the UK’s economy – bringing new, green jobs and investment. But we need to step it up if we want to supercharge the UK’s attractiveness as a destination for investment and secure more opportunities across the UK, mostly importantly here in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Our Going for Green report published last week shows that that there are up to £57 billion up for grabs in green growth opportunities. That’s equivalent to 2.4 per cent of GDP.

To seize these prices, we need a clear and stable policy environment to build business confidence.

We also need a review of our tax system, as we lay out in our Business Tax Roadmap.

The global race to green investment is in full swing – and we can’t risk being left behind.

Ahead of the autumn statement later this year, we’re consulting with business leaders and politicians to deliver the best outcomes for UK plc.

There’s no doubt things are tough right now– with high inflation, pressing labour shortages, and low productivity weighing on business confidence.

But we have plenty of opportunities to boost UK competitiveness, create more, green jobs, and grow our economy.

We shouldn’t let them go to waste.

Beckie Hart is CBI regional director for Yorkshire and Humber