{"id":456067,"date":"2026-03-03T23:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/456067\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T23:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:01:08","slug":"its-no-news-just-when-we-wanted-some-bosses-react-to-spring-statement-rachel-reeves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/456067\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s no news just when we wanted some\u2019: bosses react to spring statement | Rachel Reeves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachel Reeves gave a deliberately low-key spring forecast on Tuesday<\/a>, in an attempt to project calm amid volatility abroad and after repeated tax rising budgets.<\/p>\n

But for some business owners struggling with rising costs, a lack of policy announcements this time around was a disappointment.<\/p>\n

Changes to the business rates system are set to go ahead on 1 April, while Reeves offered little relief for companies still reeling from increases to employment costs last year. Nor was there clarity on the long-delayed defence investment plan, a key part of promises to increase spending.<\/p>\n

The Guardian spoke to bosses about how the spring forecast could affect them.<\/p>\n

Lincoln Green, independent brewer\u2018The image that she painted is somewhat different to the one that I see\u2019 \u2013 Anthony Hughes. Photograph: Ian Hodgkinson\/Picture It<\/p>\n

Anthony Hughes, the owner of Lincoln Green Brewing Company in Nottingham, said the longer term economic forecasts sounded encouraging. \u201cAs a small business owner, you want to believe in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the independent brewer has seen costs rise because of last year\u2019s employer national insurance hike, while a more recent tax increase on non-draught alcohol<\/a> has put his trade in \u201ca continual squeeze\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

As well as the brewery, Hughes has six pubs in the east midlands, employing a total of about 80 people, and said inflation \u2013 still above the Bank of England\u2019s 2% target \u2013 continued to be an issue.<\/p>\n

Footfall has fallen and fewer people are buying pints, he said, suggesting people have less disposable income. \u201cPeople are going out less. That means pubs are quieter, and brewers able to sell less beer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Reeves] talked about real wage growth and falling inflation,\u201d he added. \u201cThe image that she painted is somewhat different to the one that I see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Business rates remain a big problem for pubs, he said, despite a support package in January<\/a> designed to lessen the impacts of a rates shake-up announced at the autumn budget. \u201cThe way pubs are rated is obscene,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was almost a \u2018jam tomorrow\u2019 statement. She was saying it\u2019s going to be tough but it\u2019s going to get better in the future. But I\u2019m struggling to see the policies that she\u2019s implemented that will actually do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaymet, tray manufacturer\u2018There\u2019s a bit of an emergency for a lot of businesses\u2019 \u2013 Mark Brearley. Photograph: Federation of Small Businesses<\/p>\n

Mark Brearley runs Kaymet, which makes metal serving trays and trolleys at its factory in London.<\/p>\n

\u201cStability sounds like a great idea but there\u2019s a bit of an emergency for a lot of businesses,\u201d he said, referring to rising energy costs.<\/p>\n

Industrial energy prices remain 70% higher than before Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine,<\/a> while gas prices are 60% higher, according to industry group Energy UK. And the Iran war could push oil and gas prices up significantly again<\/a>, with a knock-on effect on costs at home.<\/p>\n

Brearley said many metals manufacturers were \u201cfreaking out\u201d about energy even before the war started, and that his own gas and electricity costs went up 58% last year after having to renew a long-term contract. \u201cIt hits you all at once like a dam breaking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kaymet\u2019s stockists include Harrods and Selfridges, but it exports to dozens of countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia. Reeves was right to focus on the macroeconomic picture given the turbulence abroad, Brearley said, but last year\u2019s rise in employment costs continued to hurt smaller companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of businesses out there have real day-to-day issues, and a lot of our rising costs are a result of government-related decisions,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s no news just when we wanted some.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohort, defence technology group<\/p>\n

Cohort, a defence technology company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), owns several businesses ranging from manufacturers of sonar systems for the Royal Navy to providers of data products for military training.<\/p>\n

Andrew Thomis, its chief executive, said he was pleased to hear Reeves mention defence spending, and that a new commitment to fund a \u00a31bn military helicopter<\/a> project was encouraging for the sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need now is the defence investment plan,\u201d he said, referring to the government\u2019s long-delayed blueprint<\/a> for military spending for the coming years, originally due last autumn.<\/p>\n

The plan will be important for Cohort \u2013 which employs 1,600 across its headquarters in Reading and other sites in Australia, Germany and Portugal \u2013 to make decisions on future production, he said.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s promise to increase defence spending to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035 sharpens that further.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of investment is needed if the industry is going to produce at the type of rate required \u2013 but if we\u2019re going to invest we need direction,\u201d he said. \u201cAt present we\u2019re seeing a cash squeeze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philip Morris & Son, department store<\/p>\n

John Jones runs Philip Morris & Son, a department store in Hereford that traces its roots back to 1845.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was just nothing there. It was like watching the same tired old message of blaming the Tories and scoring political points against every other party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jones said rising business rates are costing him thousands: his will rise by 46% over a three-year revaluation cycle, costing an extra \u00a39,000 this year, \u00a318,000 next year, and \u00a327,000 the year after.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the budget, I was looking for something that made reference to the mistakes they made [on rates]. They\u2019ve rectified that for pubs, but not for retailers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really winds me up because pubs and retailers have the same cost pressures, except shops have got this crime epidemic where shoplifting is now just seen as acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week retailers reported there were 5.5m incidents of shoplifting last year, costing the industry \u00a3400m<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve got stuff walking out the door every day, which is a problem pubs don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been nice if that had at least been acknowledged \u2026 but no, there\u2019s nothing there at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hercules, construction recruiter\u2018We don\u2019t want them going backwards\u2019 \u2013 Brusk Korkmaz, chief executive of Hercules. Photograph: Scott Boulton<\/p>\n

Brusk Korkmaz, the chief executive of Hercules, a construction recruitment company, was \u201chappy\u201d to see Reeves attempt to give companies more stability. \u201cBusinesses only invest in people when the government gives certainty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Gloucestershire-based firm, which employs 1,700 people, recruits workers for infrastructure projects such as the HS2 rail line, but has been broadly insulated from a slump in housebuilding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He said he was encouraged by the chancellor seeming to take a longer term view on the economy, adding that inconsistent investment \u201cundermines long term planning \u2026 you\u2019ve got to think in generations, not years\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, he remained wary after previous governments pulled out of projects such as the northern leg of HS2.<\/a> \u201cWe don\u2019t want them going backwards by delaying or pulling out of any projects.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves gave a deliberately low-key spring forecast on Tuesday, in an attempt to project calm amid volatility…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-456067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}