The Chancellor delivered his Spring Statement today (23 March) in Parliament. Rishi Sunak focused on the cost of living crisis with a suite of measures primarily aimed at relieving financial pressures on families.

In our immediate media reaction, Stephen Marcos Jones, CEO ACE said: “Rising inflation is the backdrop to the Chancellor’s update with the official forecast from the OBR peaking at around 9% in 2022. The resulting impact – coming after what have been two extremely challenging years – means difficult times ahead for all businesses in all sectors.”

“Whilst our members may not be as directly exposed as those working in other sectors, inflationary increases affect every single company which is why we would have expected more proactive, immediate and targeted moves to mitigate current inflationary pressures on UK PLC.”

Stephen has explored the Statement in more detail in a blog on our site.

The Spring Statement made additional announcements around a wider scope and scale to R&D tax reliefs, a review of the tax system and apprenticeship levy and shared details of round two for the Levelling Up Fund.

As in previous years, to help members digest the announcements made, we have produced an exclusive member-only briefing. Simply login or register with your work email to access.

We also hosted a member-only webinar on Thursday 24 March at 12pm. Joining ACE’s Stephen Marcos Jones were guests from the CBI, Green Alliance, AECOM and EIC. Together they explored what it all means for ambitions around Net Zero and Levelling Up, and what it means for your business’ bottom line.