Iceland boss: Budget must show Labour is listening to business, not just managing decline

The upcoming Budget must reject managed decline and instead foster a productivity revolution through investment incentives, skills support, and lower employment costs to help British business drive economic growth, says Lord Richard Walker I thought that working across the property, retail and leisure sectors had given me a wide perspective on business and the environment in which we operate. Nevertheless, I was shocked at how different things were once I had a front-row seat inside government. It won’t surprise City AM readers that I found the contrast in how decisions get made simply staggering. In business, you can t spend years circulating proposals between committees while technology changes, competitors move ahead and your customers expect more for less. Yet that s too often how we approach industrial and economic policy in Britain. The Chancellor faces a difficult task on Wednesday. Little fiscal headroom, expensive borrowing and an uncertain global economy aren