BUDGET: Call for international trade support
Fareham engineering firm Barnbrook Systems has urged the Chancellor to back exporters in her budget
Andrew Barnett, managing director of Fareham-based Barnbrook Systems, said: ‘The Chancellor needs to introduce measures to remove international trade barrier so more businesses can export and develop partnerships worldwide, while boosting global confidence in UK plc.
‘Our attendance at last week’s Dubai Airshow made one thing impossible to ignore: what feels local in the UK hits far beyond our borders.
‘Our businesses are fighting— and trying to win — on a global battlefield. Our success isn’t optional; it’s what powers the UK’s future.’
Andrew added: “The Chancellor need to get her head out of the sand and face up to the myriad problems facing the economy.
‘Many of these have been of her own making and the chaos of the last few weeks with speculation over potential policies has dented business confidence even further.
‘The Chancellor must deliver a business friendly Budget to stimulate the growth that the UK so desperately needs to escape its economic malaise.
‘Businesses, especially SMEs, can shoulder no more taxes or regulation. Instead, a whole host of measures are required, especially for increasingly important sectors such as defence and technology.
‘A reduction in regulatory burdens and business taxes, although unlikely, would be very welcome along with measures to tackle high energy costs, especially for industrial and manufacturing sectors, and cuts to business rates.
‘Greater support needs to be targeted towards businesses in innovative technology and high growth sectors whether that is through access to finance to allow investment or such measures as greater R&D relief and expansion of full expensing on capital allowances in certain cases.
‘Clearly the Chancellor is in a difficult fiscal position but more own goals will not help, while a recognition that business can be a valuable ally, with policies to match, will be an important first step on the path out of the current situation.’
Barnbrook Systems is a global solutions provider based in Fareham, Hampshire, with nearly 50 staff. It is an engineering and manufacturing firm with customers and partners in the UK and abroad in such key sectors as defence, fire security, aerospace, aviation, rail, maritime and green hydrogen. Its technology includes its BlueCube© Intelligent Internet of Things (IIOT) remote sensing systems and an E:BAG lithium battery fire suppression system developed with fellow tech firm Flair.