Key facts
- Chancellor John Healey stated businesses are facing significant cost pressures.
- He promised to provide "breathing space" for businesses to manage these burdens.
- Healey aims to make UK financial services more competitive.
- His priorities include fiscal discipline and driving wealth creation.
- He emphasized deepening the government's relationship with the business sector.
Chancellor John Healey has stated that he is "just as concerned" about the rising costs facing businesses as he is about those affecting households. Speaking to business leaders in the City of London, Healey promised that bosses would also receive "breathing space" to manage increasing burdens from energy, labor, and supply chains.
Healey echoed Andy Burnham's pledge to provide "breathing space" on the cost of living, indicating his aim to alleviate cost pressures on firms and foster greater competitiveness within the UK's financial services sector. He acknowledged that businesses, both large and small, have felt "squeezed" and emphasized that building a new economy requires increased support for and collaboration with businesses.
The Chancellor outlined his five key priorities: maintaining fiscal discipline, promoting "growth in every postcode," supporting British citizens, driving wealth creation, and reducing the costs associated with both living and doing business. He expressed a desire to deepen the government's and the Treasury's relationship with the business community, founded on a shared ambition for the country's success.
Healey commended the reappointment of Lucy Rigby as City minister, who will focus on enhancing the competitiveness of UK financial services. Additionally, the appointment of former City executive Baron David Pitt-Watson to the Treasury was highlighted as a signal of the government's commitment to placing the City at the core of Britain's economic future. Healey's address, his first to the City since becoming Chancellor, was a call to "lift the pessimism" that he believes hinders national prosperity.