'There's hope for business in this uncertain time'

Amid uncertain economic times, business leaders across north-west England are sounding a note of cautious hope - but many want to see more action to help them thrive.

Following news of an unexpected boost in growth for the UK at the end of last year, the Bank of England later halved its growth forecast for the rest of 2025, with economists uncertain as ever about what the future may now hold.

But while businesses have no choice but to navigate these choppy economic waves, many in the region are seeing reasons for optimism.

"We're like a microcosm of the wider economy," said Sean Keyes, managing director at the Liverpool-based engineering consultancy Sutcliffe.

"The trend is moving. Housing development is slow but there is more work in the public sector - in prisons, healthcare and education with more to come."

Speaking of the modest recent growth, Mr Keyes said it was "close to nothing but it gave a slight thumbs-up".

He said his firm, which employs 65 staff in Liverpool and Manchester, has "surpassed" the UK's wider average growth rate over the last year.

This has been accomplished by "working a little bit harder and a little bit smarter" as they secure work with others in the supply chain on projects nationwide, including a housing scheme in Bristol, he said.

Further up the M62, Manchester coffee shop owner Chris Taylor said simply "trade was not there" as many people are "naturally clinging onto their purse strings".

Bolton caterer Sushma Solanki said she worked on only two office Christmas events at the turn of the year, when previously she did about "20 to 30".

"People don't have the money," she said.

She said food costs had risen and she had to let go of one worker, partly because of the upcoming rise in National Insurance (NI).

Samantha Barker, from the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said widespread concerns about tax and national insurance are persisting, despite the "small crumb of comfort" from recent growth.

Her East Lancashire counterpart Professor Miranda Barker added that sectors with mainly low-paid workers, such as hospitality and care, have struggled.

"We're literally seeing redundancies from businesses just to cover that national insurance rise - not because the businesses are short of work - which is very frustrating," she said.

The East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce provides support to mainly manufacturing-orientated firms, whom Prof Barker described as doing "predominantly well".

She said: "Their order books have been full for the last four or five years without a problem.

"But the changes to government taxation have seen all of their margins eaten away and that has been difficult to bear."

In Wirral, Matt Breakwell, business development director at heating and electrics firm Kimpton, added that challenges in the planning process also meant "about 600 projects are held up across the UK".

Their clients have included skyscrapers and the M&S Bank Arena.

However, while last year was tough, he added: "We're now seeing a pick-up in enquiries and order books are starting to fill."

He also said inflation "put a lot of jobs on hold" and he wanted to see "certainty", particularly on net-zero plans to decarbonise the UK by 2050.

With the government announcing their Spring Budget on 26 March, Subrahmaniam Krishnan-Harihara at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce warned that "fragile growth should not be overplayed".

"Now is not the time to pile on further cost pressures and compliance challenges for business," he said.

"Business investment can be unlocked only if businesses are offered a stable and supportive macroeconomic context."

Prof Barker added: "When we were with political parties during their election campaigns, they talked about taxation. Labour especially talked about taxation needing to happen, but then in return we would see investment.

"We've seen the taxation, we've seen some infrastructure investment, but let's see that co-investment into our businesses to help them grow.

"That was promised and we'd like to see that coming now soon please."

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