James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Mike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »
Jez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy » 
Karen McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related » 
Jeremy Middleton is a venture capitalist and the co-founder of FTSE-200 company HomeServe » 
Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » The Chancellor cocked his gun towards an expectant audience and pulled the trigger. But businesses were showered with hot air - and not a magic bullet in sight.
This year's Budget was more memorable for omissions than headlines, with the Chancellor ignoring a raft of potentially hard-hitting measures that could have saved jobs and businesses from going under.
With public finances heading for the rocks, Alistair Darling was unlikely to mastermind a second major bail-out fund for industry, having underwritten billions of pounds of bank lending in January.
But he could have done a hell of lot more to win over disillusioned businesses without spending a small fortune.
He could, for instance, have given guarantees that banks would open the vaults of lending to businesses. Even profitable firms will be in trouble if they can't access vital funds for capital investment.
He certainly should have made rebates on business rates automatic, with companies justifiably asking why they have to claim back what is rightfully theirs.
The fuel duty rise was a smack in the face for Teesside's growing logistics army still struggling to fend off earlier hikes, while a staff wage subsidy would have been a morale-boosting shot in the arm for cash-strapped manufacturers struggling to hold onto skilled labour.
Although Darling couldn't be blamed for ignoring fantasy calls for a corporate tax holiday - which would have pushed public debt far deeper into the mire - he missed a political opportunity to wow corporate voters and kick-start the growth needed to satisfy his wildly optimistic economic forecasts.
Only days after predicting that output will return to positive territory by the end of 2009, official figures showed a 1.9% slump in GDP during the first three months of the year.
The combined 3.5% drop over the last six months is believed to be the steepest decline since the Second World War and with industry confidence still fragile, it could be several quarters before this decline is reversed.
I'm sorry, Mr Darling, but the sums just don't add up. If you are going to go for growth of that magnitude, at least show us how it is meant to be achieved.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »