Babs Murphy
Babs Murphy, Chief Executive at the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce said: “Businesses will welcome much of this budget. There is support that is essential to help businesses recover in both the short and longer terms.
“New grants for the retail and hospitality sectors will help many shops, pubs and hotels get through to the end of restrictions.
"Extensions to furlough, business rates relief and VAT reductions offer some security as they not only restart, but to recover and rebuild.
“While we welcome many measures taken in this budget, how successfully business rebuilds needs to be closely monitored. Kickstarting the economy is a necessary to start in repaying the debts taken on over the pandemic. If the bounce back isn’t as profound as hoped, the Chancellor must be prepared to step in.”