George Osborne in delivering the first totally Tory budget in almost 20 years has given us in business a reason to be optimistic.
The cutting of corporation tax shows his intention to get Britain very much in gear, but inevitably the new National Living Wage will be a concern for some employers, who will be busy doing the maths to see how it all stacks up.
Mr Osborne certainly talked the talk in delivering a set of proposals which were lapped up by those on the benches behind him. However, walking the walk will be down to many factors out of the control of those at Whitehall.
He is targeting full employment, and predicting a million new jobs in the next five years, whilst the Office for Budget Responsibility is expecting the budget deficit to fall.
He received his fair share of criticism for his plans and you can be certain that those in the public sector will have him as enemy number one, capping pay rises at one per cent over the next four years.
Equally, welfare cuts will hardly be seen in the best light by those struggling to survive.
However, as accountants committed to helping businesses thrive we at AIT are focussed on those who create wealth and jobs.
Corporation tax dropping to 19% from 2017, and then to 18% in 2020, is a good sign and small firms’ national insurance contributions will fall also, with a £3000 employment allowance.
Unshackled from the shadow of the Lib Dems Mr Osborne very much delivered a Conservative budget, with an onus on growth.
The future certainly looks bright. However, as all of us in business know no one is an island. Not even the island of Britain. We are very much at the mercy of world conditions and a crisis in the Chinese markets, with who we are their second biggest trading partner, together with the ongoing drama over the Greek situation is bound to have an effect.
We hope for calmer waters for both of these economies in turmoil so we aren’t hit with a ripple effect.
However, based on the misery of only a few years ago where the credit crunch had us all reeling, we think there certainly are reasons to believe the cup is half full rather than half empty, and Mr Osborne’s bullish display in delivering his seventh budget should be applauded as a sign our country is certainly on the up.