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Business News


Chamber says HS2 eastern leg must go ahead


The Chamber has thrown its weight behind new demands to persuade the Government to build the eastern leg of the controversial HS2 high-speed railway. Two separate reports have been


released on this subject, both insisting that the full HS2 proposal is implemented without delay, and claiming that the public was already losing faith in the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda.


‘HS2 will be fundamental in realising the Government’s long held ambition to move away from a reliance on the south to drive economic growth’


The report - ‘HS2 Midlands


Voices’ - is by High Speed Rail Group (HSRG), and claims that the eastern leg of the project (which covers the East Midlands) is vital to ensure any benefits of HS2 are


shared equally. The eastern leg goes from Birmingham to Leeds, and Midlands Engine is hoping to connect Derby, Leicester and Nottingham to it at the proposed East Midlands Hub. Report author HSRG is an


organisation representing companies ‘with experience and an interest in high speed rail’, and its report claims that the East Midlands currently has the lowest transport spend per head of any region in the UK (£245), receiving 49 per cent less than the UK average (£483). This report includes


contributions from many Midlands- based political groups and organisations, including the Chamber, whose chief executive, Paul Faulkner, says: “HS2 will be fundamental in realising the Government’s long held ambition to move away from a reliance on the south to drive economic growth and bring prosperity to all four corners of the country.” The second report, by campaign group HS2 East, has come to same


HS2: government must build the eastern leg, say campaigners


conclusion as the HSRG has about the eastern leg of HS2. The organisation has also carried


out research, which it says has revealed a lack of public confidence in the ‘levelling-up’ agenda. Its poll of more than 2,000


people from the Midlands and the North revealed that just 20 per cent were confident that the Government was doing enough to level up the UK economy. Darren Henry, MP for Broxtowe in


Nottinghamshire and chairman of the Midlands Engine All Party Parliamentary Group, said: “Now is the time for the Government to restore public confidence in


Survey shows rising optimism


A new Anglo-German business survey has revealed that while companies are still suffering from the coronavirus crisis, they are more optimistic than they were earlier in the year. The survey is the German-British Chamber autumn


survey, which has found that more than 50 per cent of the business community in those countries are severely affected by the pandemic. Only 20 per cent of


businesses have seen no effect during the crisis, but this is higher than it was in summer, when it was at 15 per cent. Despite this, most


businesses expect the overall recovery to take longer than originally anticipated. The German-British Chamber said that travel


restrictions and the cancellation of trade fairs/events, decline in demand and cancellation of orders, and cancelled investments were continuing to have an impact on business operations, even though the effects were slightly less pronounced in comparison to earlier in the year. The Chamber said that although there now appeared


to be some light at the end of the tunnel for a number of businesses, the renewed challenge posed by Brexit was now once again looming large for the German- British business community.


The Chamber said that as a consequence, a significant number of companies were expecting geographical changes to their supply chains and the location of their business activities. Some would relocate activities to the UK, but many more would shift some of their operations to Germany or other EU member states. A small majority still expected


a minimum free trade agreement to be concluded by the end of the year, but in any case, a large and growing majority (75 per cent) expected Brexit to have a negative impact of more than two per cent on the growth of the UK economy in 2021. Dr Ulrich Hoppe, director


general of the German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce, said: "The survey results suggest


that the German-British business community, despite being slightly less pessimistic about the shorter-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic on their own businesses, continues to be worried about the longer- term effects. “In addition, Brexit and the expected emergence of


trade barriers will have a negative effect on its overall investment levels in the UK and economic growth will also be adversely affected to a significant extent.”


The full result of the survey can be found at: grossbritannien.ahk.de/business-outlook.


levelling up by committing to the eastern leg of HS2. “In the East Midlands, the new hub


station at Toton (in Broxtowe) will create thousands of highly-skilled jobs. It will provide green, carbon- neutral travel for the next century. It must go ahead, as the Prime Minister and numerous other cabinet ministers have repeatedly promised.” Former Transport Secretary


added Lord McLoughlin, former Transport Secretary added: “Any further delay will undermine the economic future of the East Midlands, at a time when we need to be decisive and boost business confidence.”


Freight firm stars in advert


A Coleshill-based freight forwarding firm is starring in a new Brexit advertisement for the taxman. It features Davies Turner &


Co director Alan Williams, and is part of a Government campaign urging businesses to get ready for Britain leaving the EU on 1 January. In the advert, Mr Williams explains how freight forwarders can be a company’s ‘eyes and ears’ to ensure that goods get cleared through the borders either in the UK or abroad with the minimum of complications or delay. He says: “If you want your


goods to move quickly and your supply chain to continue functioning smoothly, you really must speak to a multimodal forwarder with a pan-European transport network.” Many businesses have


already responded to the advert, and enquiries to Davies Turner’s call centres have gone up by 300 per cent.


December 2020/January 2021 CHAMBERLINK 23


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