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Ahead of the Budget this coming afternoon we asked business leaders Jason Woodford, CEO at digital marketing agency SiteVisibility and Al Bingle, Managing Director at Bishop’s Move, the UK’s largest family owned removals company, for their views on what the Chancellor should focus on in this year’s Budget.
– The UK needs a stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers to kick-start the stagnate property market.
There is a simple solution to help stimulate growth in the property market; introduce another and yet long overdue holiday on stamp duty for first-time buyers. In fact I will be amazed if the property market isn’t one of the Chancellor’s main focuses in this year’s Budget. Not only would a stamp duty holiday act as a stimulus for the property market but it will have a significant impact on the general economy as a whole. According to analysis from estate agent Savills just last week, home ownership among people aged less than 35 has tumbled by a third over the past decade — and risen by about a fifth among pension-aged individuals. These figures point to a crisis amongst first-time buyers which needs to be addressed now; not next year; but now. As a removals company we see first-hand the type of demographics which we are relocating.
The last stamp duty holiday was applied to any first-time buyers buying under £250,000. To stimulate activity, I urge the Chancellor to re-introduce a similar incentive for all transactions which could also reflect the regional differences in house prices. Another failure to introduce a stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers will undermine the government’s own previous attempts to kick-start the property market across the country, of which first-time buyers hold the key.
Al Bingle, Managing Director of SME Bishop’s Move.
– Relax tax regime so businesses can invest in training, apprenticeships and work placements.
Some measures need to be introduced in the Budget to support UK business growth and reduce the tax burden. Mr Osborne needs to reinforce his message that “Britain is open for business”. To that end I would like to see relaxed tax measures on businesses that invest in training, apprenticeships and work placements; perhaps building on the R&D tax credit model. Traditionally, when times are tough, training is one of the first areas to take a cut; but that is actually a short-sighted move.
I believe that now more employers, from across various sectors and industries, are starting to recognise that nurturing your own talent, particularly when times are uncertain, unearths much-needed skills and agility to meet the demands of their customers. Small and mid-sized businesses that invest in employee training as well as firms that hire students in skilled jobs must be rewarded, and relaxed payroll tax measures is the way to do it.
By doing so, this will encourage more businesses nationwide take on work placements and trainees to developing graduates to their own required standards therefore ensuring that they avoid a stagnation through lack of skills. Businesses need to take the bull by the horn and believe in themselves that training and development is the way forward; I encourage Mr Osborne to display similar confidence to ensure a brighter future for the UK skills-set and economy.
Jason Woodford, CEO of digital marketing agency SiteVisibility.
