Phones 4u founder John Caudwell and former Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Rose have joined the Stop the Creep campaign, which calls on the government to reduce taxation on UK businesses.
The campaign, launched this summer by UK scale-up founder network Helm, seeks a reversal in Employers’ National Insurance, restoring entrepreneurial reliefs that have been cut, and a clearer future strategy for business taxation.
Its momentum builds ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget on 28 October. Healey was appointed Chancellor in July.
Caudwell and Rose join a host of high profile business backers of the campaign including Christos Angelides, CEO of Reiss, Pimlico Plumbers Founder Charlie Mullins, Chairman of Gail’s Bakery, Luke Johnson and Boden Founder, Johnnie Boden.
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith is also a supporter.
The news follows a poll published by Helm earlier this month which showed that only six percent of business leaders considered Prime Minister Andy Burnham to be pro-business, with more than four in five expecting trading conditions to stay the same or get worse.
Rose called it the most concerning period for UK business he has experienced in fifty years, but that the forthcoming Budget was the time to address the issues. “Employment costs and regulations are now serious impediments to growth and employment,” he said.
“Employers’ National Insurance alone took a hundred million pounds a year out of one supermarket. Multiply that across the economy and it is easy to see why investment has stalled. The good news is that this is within the Government’s gift to fix.
“This is not about special treatment. If the Government wants businesses to create jobs and growth, the Budget is the moment to ease the burden on the act of creating them.”
