Chamber joins high-level talks with Chancellor

Labour market challenges, economic growth and energy capacity were top of the agenda as Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce president Deb Leary joined national business leaders for high-level talks with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Deb was accompanied by Mike Owens, managing director of manufacturer and GBCC patron Schumacher Packaging, as leaders were invited to share business challenges and priorities.

The Chancellor listened to views on a range of topics including the levelling up agenda, investment zones, skills, the UK 's tight labour market, utilising planning for growth and sorting out the National Grid queuing system.

The talks were organised by the British Chambers of Commerce, whose director general Shevaun Haviland was present alongside Deb Leary and the CEOs of Sheffield, North East, East Lancashire and Thames Valley Chambers of Commerce.

Each region was also represented by a member business, with Schumacher joined by Nissan (North East Chamber, LiNa Energy (East Lancashire) and Moderna (Thames Valley).

Deb Leary said: “This was an incredibly valuable meeting, giving the Chambers an opportunity to provide a 'grassroots ' level view of the challenges faced by businesses in the regions.

“My discussions focused on the need for greater clarity for businesses with regards to the levelling up agenda and what it means to business in real terms, along with the potential for investment zones and what needs to be in play for these to succeed.

“Innovation also featured as a discussion point and in particular greater clarity and signposting as to where funding and business support generally can be found.

“Overall, the message was that whilst the Chambers as a whole are a strong collaborative body to support its members and inform government, each region has its own individual 'flavour ' and, as a consequence, greater devolution would bring significant benefit.

“It was an open, realistic and positive meeting on all sides which significantly benefited from having business representatives in the room like our own Mike Owens, MD of Schumacher Packaging, who provided real world scenarios as to the opportunities and the challenges they face in converting those opportunities into a reality.

Shevaun Haviland said: “Businesses are realistic and understand the challenges and limited resources of Government. They brought pragmatic solutions to the table this morning, that won 't be a drain on the Chancellor 's finances.

“The Chancellor heard the Chamber network 's calls on three main issues; utilising planning for growth, sorting out the national grid queuing system and tackling the UK 's tight labour market.

“More must be done to unlock the planning system at pace, to help firms seeking to invest and to build new facilities.

“Additionally, without an efficient national grid which supplies businesses with the energy capacity they need, as well as enough workers to fill empty jobs, the potential for growth will continue to be limited.

“We also heard this morning that Investment Zones are a fantastic opportunity for the public and private sectors to unlock growth together.

“It 's by having conversations like these that we can work with Government to make a real difference for firms on the frontline of the economy and give them the tools they need for success. ”