“Any budget offer now probably won’t be actionable before the election thus rendering it ineffective, creating further uncertainty. This is why any commitments, as positive as they are, on things like big infrastructure and regional levelling up, need to be taken with a big pinch of salt.

“With a spending review likely, whoever gets in, there remains a degree of uncertainty which is affecting investor confidence, and as a result impacting future commercial and residential development. It’s resulting in stagnation throughout the construction supply chain, which won’t likely resolve until a new Government is in power and the economy stabilises.

“Another persistent pain point is energy costs, and it was unfortunate, yet unsurprising, that the industrial energy cap was not reduced. Perhaps this was a matter of convenience for a beleaguered Government, keeping the UK business community paying inflated prices on long tariffs to support the domestic price cap.”

Ben Hancock, MD at Oscar Acoustics

“SMEs have been calling for extra support from Government to tackle rising financial pressures, so it’s a welcome reprieve to see The Chancellor continue the fuel duty freeze. However, energy and material costs still remain a major issue. In the last six months alone, we’ve seen past customers go into administration, roughly every two weeks.

“That said – we’ve seen a huge spike in confidence in the past month and I believe today’s budget will go some way to maintaining this momentum. With orders up 30% in early 2023 and 250% in January this year, we’re pointing to a sudden recovery. If the government comes good on its promises, we might have a fruitful summer ahead of us.”

Allan Wilen, Economics Director at Glenigan