Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce
Infl uencing government - in more ways than one
T ere’s no denying it - the political and economic uncertainty of the past few years has contributed to challenging conditions for businesses, as multiple crises have converged. In fact, without playing the doomsayer (and there’s no need to – there are
plenty of positives to report, as we show later on), the Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) for Q4 2023 shows that most companies continue to report no improvement to sales, cash fl ow or investment. T is is the largest private sector survey of business sentiment, and is carried
out by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) thanks to the participation of regional Chambers like Bedfordshire – so the Chancellor will certainly be taking it into account when he delivers his Spring Budget on March 6. But it’s just one example of the instruments that we at the Chamber use to
infl uence UK Government thinking and policy, to help them make decisions that mitigate the eff ects of global factors, address local and regional issues and opportunities, and generally fi ght your corner. Here are some examples of the other lobbying activities we’re involved in,
the rationale behind them, and the outcomes we’ll be pushing hard to attain for local businesses like yours.
ALL THINGS BUSINESS | 46 Justin
Richardson CEO
Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce
The Future of the Economy Inquiry Let’s look first at this initiative, launched at the BCC global annual conference last year. In it, the collective Chambers enabled the BCC to weigh in on critical business themes in advance of the Spring Budget. T ese included the skills and labour
shortages, support for small businesses, the challenges around recruiting and maintaining planning resource in local authorities to accelerate the construction of new business premises, and the importance of keeping UK PLC an attractive economy for businesses and tourists from across the globe. By proposing plans to increase
construction to support business growth, develop a consistent, long-term skills plan, devise a fairer tax system, and reverse the damaging decision to discontinue UK tax-free shopping, the inquiry has enabled us both to confront Government with the consequences of its actions and demonstrate a way forward.
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