Harrogate business leaders' fears over Chancellor's Autumn Statement tomorrow

With the latest inflation figures showing a rate of 11% in the UK, the highest for 40 years, traders fear the landscape for doing business is worsening on all fronts.

The chair of Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) Sara Ferguson said: “To stop the cycle of high running costs, recruitment crisis and rising inflation there needs to be some really bold decisions, not just tinkering at the edges.”

As the crowds in the town centre at the weekend drawn partly by Thought Bubble comic convention at Harrogate Convention Centre demonstrated, the town’s strengths as a visitor destination lends an advantage to the local economy.

But traders remain fearful that without support from the Government, they, too, will struggle.

The Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce’s chief executive David Simister said he did not expect Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to meet all the needs of businesses in tomorrow's economic announcement.

And members of the Chamber heard in person from a representative of the Bank of England that a two-year recession was now inevitable.

"At this week's Chamber meeting we heard from the Bank of England’s Yorkshire representative who warned we are facing a two-year recession with interest rates going as high as five per cent," said Mr Simister.

"But I fear there’s going to be a huge divide between what businesses would like from the Autumn Statement and what will actually be announced.

“With increasing energy costs, soaring inflation, staff pressures and rising interest rates, businesses are facing unprecedented challenges, and for some any further pressures will be too much to bear."As debate grows between fiscal considerations and the necessity for economic growth, the chair of Harrogate BID said not only did businesses need continuing help with energy bills, unresolved problems over VAT and business rates had to be addressed.Mr Simister said: “To ensure the survival of businesses in Harrogate, and by that I mean those most at risk, namely small or new businesses with limited resources and possibly debt, ideally the Government should put robust and significant relief measures in place around energy bills.

“We also need a strong plan to support the high street long term - infrastructure, vacant unit usage, more community control of their towns and cities.

"We also need a proper review of business rates, plus a reduction in VAT which would benefit everyone, businesses and customers alike."

The larger business world, too, has a long list of issues it says are crippling the economy, from inflation to energy bills to recruitment.

The British Chambers of Commerce echoes business sentiment in Harrogate in calling for a bigger plan to support the economy.

David Bharier, Head of Research at the BCC aid: "While the Bank of England seeks to control inflation through further interest rate rises, this is a blunt instrument that fails to address the core drivers of inflation for most firms: soaring energy costs, global supply chain disruption, and rising staff costs due to labour shortages.

"Businesses need to see a long-term economic plan that invests in people, skills, and infrastructure and radically improves our trading relationships with key markets, not least across Europe.”