Four in five business leaders expect no improvement under Burnham

More than four in five (83%) of business leaders expect conditions for business to stay the same or get worse under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

The research, commissioned by Helm, is a blow to Burnham, who declared himself a pro-business leader in his first speech as Labour leader.

A total of 400 CEOs were asked whether they thought business conditions would improve under the new Prime Minister. 40% thought they would get worse, 43% expected them to stay the same, while just 17% thought there would be an improvement.

The research also found that 6% of business leaders think Burnham is pro-business, with two thirds (66%) disagreeing and 28% unsure.

Meanwhile, three quarters (74%) of respondents said the Prime Minister should scrap the employers’ National Insurance increase in his first 100 days, compared with just 13% who said he should not.

The Prime Minister’s first major intervention on taxation, a 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues, was welcomed by businesses as an important first step in boosting trading conditions, but much still needs to be done to restore confidence in the Labour Government.

The new administration inherits a tax burden at its highest since the Second World War and a business community bruised by the decisions of the last two years, with attention turning to Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget this autumn.

Helm, whose members run scale-up businesses with a combined revenue of more than £8 billion and contribute £1 billion a year in tax, leads the Stop the Creep campaign, backed by more than 150 business leaders and MPs, against the creeping rise of taxes on Britain’s wealth creators.

The group warns that Britain risks becoming an ‘incubator economy’, world-class at starting businesses but unable to keep them, as the United States, the UAE and Singapore compete for British founders with lower taxes and other reliefs.

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Andreas Adamides, CEO of Helm, said: “Andy Burnham says he is a pro-business Prime Minister. Just 6% of founders agree. That is the scale of the trust deficit he has inherited, and it will not be closed with warm words or a rates cut for pubs.

“He did not impose the tax rises of the last two years, but he owns them now. Reversing the employers’ National Insurance rise in his first 100 days would be the clearest possible signal that this Government understands who creates growth. What business leaders cannot afford is another summer of speculation about wealth taxes and exit charges, because uncertainty stops investment just as surely as tax does.

“Britain’s scaleup founders are ready and willing to partner with government to deliver on its growth ambitions. But the Prime Minister must prove he is serious, stop the creep of taxes on wealth creators, and give business the certainty it needs to invest and grow on British soil.”