Stephen Marcos Jones, CEO of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), which represents the businesses large and small delivering the built environment and national infrastructure sector, welcomes plans by government to cap energy prices:

“Our members will be pleased with the short term certainty provided by the six month energy price cap announced by the Prime Minister today. For all businesses it will provide some immediate relief during this difficult period. We await more details on how this will work in practice.

“However, energy costs are only one contributor to current inflation. In a soon-to-be published survey of our members, results show increasing concerns about the broader economy. The pound falling to levels not seen since 1985 this week is just the latest example of the multi-faceted inflationary pressures facing our economy.

“To help our businesses navigate the choppy waters ahead of us, we need reassurance and clarity over the longer term outlook. For our sector this means confirmation of a strong construction and infrastructure pipeline, a more holistic and sustained approach to regional and levelling up funding and a recommitment to Net Zero with the additional investment required to meet the 2050 target.

“Earlier in the week, I was pleased to see Liz Truss’ support for investment in connectivity and roads in her welcoming speech outside Number 10. We need to turn these positive words into tangible actions and projects and our members look forward to working with the government to do so.”