Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her spending plans to Parliament, which included tens of billions of pounds of investment in transport, infrastructure and new homes, alongside extra money for health and education.
Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Corin Crane said the headline figures must be made relevant to SMEs in the region.
He said: “This is welcome news. Businesses across our patch will hear the announcements around billions of pounds on nuclear power, on defence, on homes and on transport and the sentiment will be positive towards that investment.
“I hear from firms all of the time and these are some of the topics that crop up quite often.
“However, we as a Chamber and decision-makers in Government have to work hard now to translate some of those huge numbers into what the opportunities are for local businesses.
“The huge sums of money look good on paper, but businesses need to see how they turn into tenders and, ultimately, new work to deliver. That’s how this Spending Review can help them to grow and create more jobs, and that’s how we’ll see it have an impact on our economy and the prosperity of local people.”
Alex Veitch, Director of Policy at the BCC, said: “Business has been waiting for Government to show it understands the deep-rooted problems holding back our economy and how they can be solved.
“Today we have seen signs they get it, with action to address some of the key issues that can help firms.
“The Chancellor’s pledges on £15bn of regional infrastructure investment, a £14bn commitment to Sizewell C and an £86bn package for research and development funding can make a real difference.
“But the government must not give with one hand and take with the other. While plans for investment are welcome, we are clear that, if we are to sustain meaningful growth, there can be no further taxes on business in the autumn budget.
“Firms will also want to hear a lot more about the replacement for the Shared Prosperity Fund. The current information about the new scheme suggests it may be more limited in nature, and broad access to this scheme will be essential.
“These issues aside it was welcome to see a £2bn focus on Artificial Intelligence support. Many SMEs tell us they are still struggling with how they will get the best from AI, if they plan to use it all.
“The £6bn set aside for munitions production and separate funding for carbon capture, usage and storage clusters, including the Acorn Project in Aberdeenshire, are also critical to supply chains across the UK.
“New infrastructure projects will also provide investment opportunities for these supply chains, generate wealth, which is injected back into their regions, and create additional economic capacity.
“So, it was also good to hear the Chancellor talking about the government’s commitment to training, education and skills.
“Too many times in the past, big infrastructure projects have been beset by inefficiencies, delays and costs overruns.
“If we are to build on a greater scale across the whole country then we need a pipeline of new planners, carpenters, architects, technicians and construction workers.
“That’s why guarantees of £1.2bn per year of future funding for apprenticeships and training is so important.
“Today’s announcements provide us with the broad framework of where the government will invest. But the forthcoming Industrial and Trade Strategies will still have heavy lifting to do if our economy is to achieve the strong and sustained growth, we all desire.”
