Northamptonshire businesses are set to benefit from a number of measures specifically aimed at helping medium sized companies announced by George Osborne in the 2014 Autumn Statement.
A key announcement was the abolition of National Insurance contributions for employers taking on apprentices under the age of 25.
This move has been welcomed by financial and business advisers Grant Thornton who have long been calling for this, and other measures, to help ambitious mid-sized businesses fulfil their potential.
Jeremy Read, partner at Grant Thornton’s Northamptonshire office, comments: “Ou
Northamptonshire businesses are set to benefit from a number of measures specifically aimed at helping medium sized companies announced by George Osborne in the 2014 Autumn Statement.
A key announcement was the abolition of National Insurance contributions for employers taking on apprentices under the age of 25.
This move has been welcomed by financial and business advisers Grant Thornton who have long been calling for this, and other measures, to help ambitious mid-sized businesses fulfil their potential.
Jeremy Read, partner at Grant Thornton’s Northamptonshire office, comments: “Our research shows these medium sized companies form a key part of the Northamptonshire economy and, nationally, make a major contribution to the UK’s GDP growth. If mid-sized businesses are to further boost their productivity they need a workforce that is well equipped with relevant skills.
“Removing NIC for apprentices should help to increase the number of Northamptonshire businesses offering high quality training opportunities and go some way towards bridging the skills gap which has been identified as a major barrier to further growth.”
One of the biggest concerns for Northamptonshire businesses over the last year has been access to finance. Therefore, Mr Osborne’s promise of an extra £400m to extend the Enterprise Capital Fund programme and another £500m of bank lending will be warmly welcomed by the region’s medium sized businesses.
However, these measures only add to support already available which has generally not been taken up by businesses seeking growth and development funding and more needs to be done to address the issue of a lack of long term stable capital available.
The announcement of a 1% increase in R&D tax credits for small and medium sized business is another welcomed boost to encourage further entrepreneurial activity in Northamptonshire and this measure, on top of the doubling of business rate relief for a further year, will benefit local companies across the county.
Jeremy Read concluded: “It was overall a good day for medium sized businesses in Northamptonshire and the Autumn Statement builds on the Northamptonshire Limited survey, conducted by Grant Thornton, which showed that local businesses across the county were feeling more confident. However, Northamptonshire businesses certainly still face challenges and uncertainty in the coming months.”