Budget call to fund scale-up companies in Sheffield City Region

The business group urged the Chancellor to put the region at the heart of the Budget with a series of critical asks, including funding scale-up comnpanies in Sheffield City Region in sectors including aero, auto, and steel.

In a letter to Rishi Sunak it calls for a ‘comprehensive review’ to reduce the bill on individual businesses, further devolution and a network of high-end research hubs.

CBI regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, Beckie Hart, said: “At the start of this new decade, firms are feeling more optimistic and want to invest.

“The CBI is urging the Government to put all UK regions, including Yorkshire and The Humber, at the heart of the budget. Our requests will create jobs, growth and investment. Private sector investment has fallen over the past couple of years.

“Backed by a pro-enterprise Budget business can help kickstart a new decade of UK growth and job creation.

“Trade policy will continue to matter, but with strong domestic policy, British firms are ready to invest and get our region into the fast lane of global economies.”

Key proposals for Yorkshire and The Humber include:

1. The UK’s business rates system puts many parts of the UK economy at a competitive disadvantage. A comprehensive review should reduce the bill on individual businesses. That review should be completed by year end to incentivise investment by firms across the UK.

2. Help promote further devolution in the region and offer a framework setting out clear guidelines to support the development of new deals and establish criteria for assessing deal proposals.

3. The Government’s National Infrastructure Strategy is welcome and should as a first step commit to delivering HS2 in full to unlock capacity and transport connections across the North. It should allocate funds to a wide range of strategic infrastructure projects set out in the CBI’s full submission, including the East Coast Mainline upgrades, upgrades to the Calder Valley Line and Trans Pennine Route and channel digital infrastructure funding to hard to reach places.

4. Innovation investment drives good jobs and global strength but is currently concentrated in the South. The UK should establish a network of high-end research hubs throughout Yorkshire and the Humber to build on local strengths, develop low carbon zones and support innovation clusters

7. Vital steps on the region’s path to Net Zero should be announced, in particular using regulation to ensure all commercial properties are more energy efficient, testbeds for hydrogen deployment which could transform low carbon usage, and fast-track the doubling of funding for on-street charging points to ensure coverage for electric vehicles by 2024.

8. Fund scale up companies in Sheffield City Region across key sectors including aero, auto, and steel, building on the success of the Made Smarter pilot and boosting the region’s competitiveness. The scheme would offer up to 50 per cent match funding, as well as guidance on creating an effective digital roadmap to ensure the right technology is taking business in the right direction.