'We are in survival mode and firms will shut'

Firms are under threat and jobs will be lost in the new year, according to survey carried out by Shropshire Chamber of Commerce in response to the government's autumn budget.

The survey of businesses in the county, and in Telford and Wrekin found 72% of respondents described the budget as negative and no employers described it as positive.

"We are in survival mode," said bosses at one hospitality business who expect firm closures, early in 2025.

The BBC has approached the Treasury for comment.

The chamber described the survey as revealing some of the most downbeat forecasts since the pandemic.

Describing the budget as "business-bashing" Alex Brown, from the chamber's policy team, said: "Increased national insurance (NI) and minimum wage rates alone have prompted businesses to warn of redundancies."

A professional services business said: "We have more taxes to pay, wages, energy and rents costs all increase annually, but we are still in a competitive market, so our charge-out rates can't keep up."

And a construction company criticised increased employers' NI contributions and said: "Our NI costs are approximately £16,000 up."

Survey results showed a 14% fall in businesses reporting rising sales.

More than a quarter of firms were seeing credit terms getting worse, while about a third said bad debts were on the rise.

Three-quarters expected turnover to fall, which was a rise of 23% on the previous quarter, the chamber said.

Nearly 80% of employers predicted there will be a drop in profits.

However, in international trade, there was an 11% rise in companies seeing growing exports and a 16% rise in those reporting an increase in future export orders.

The chamber has just under 1,000 members and hundreds of businesses took part in the anonymous survey. It was open to any business of any size in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

According to the chamber, there are 21,500 businesses in the area.

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.