18 LCCI in the news
London’ s success is a national priority
by Vittoria Zerbini
In the run-up to the Autumn Budget, the Chamber made the case for London ' s businesses across the national and London media. Its views featured in the Daily Express, The Standard and London Daily News, with coverage focused on the cost of doing business, the impact of increased employer National Insurance( NI) contributions and the need to keep the capital competitive. LCCI chief executive Karim Fatehi OBE called on the Chancellor to reverse the NI rise, citing new polling of business leaders and the impact on entry-level jobs for young people. He also told The Standard that businesses could not absorb any further costs and used the launch of the LCCI ' s Choose LDN. campaign to argue in London Daily News that the capital ' s success was a national priority.
Opening doors for young people
After the publication of new polling results, Karim Fatehi OBE told the Daily Express that reversing the rise in employer NI contributions would help businesses to invest, hire and grow. The survey, conducted by YouGov for LCCI among 509 UK business leaders, found that 74 per cent said reversing the increase would have a positive impact on their business, while 56 per cent said they would be more likely to invest in the UK.
Fatehi said the results confirmed
what LCCI members had long been saying: the increase has damaged business confidence and made firms reluctant to take on staff. He explained that the extra cost often led to roles not being filled, particularly entry-level and part-time positions, which in turn influenced the number of young people not in education, employment or training( NEET). Fatehi concluded that reversing the increase would lower the cost of hiring, help reduce the NEET figure and ease pressure on the welfare bill, and he called on the Chancellor to deliver a Budget that backed job creators.
No room for further costs
The Standard reported the Chamber’ s view that the Chancellor should focus on two clear objectives in his budget: meaningfully lowering the cost of doing business and making London more internationally competitive. With business costs at exceptionally high levels, LCCI stressed that its members could not absorb any further increases.
LCCI also called on the government to reverse the £ 20 billion rise in employer NI contributions, which has put pressure on thousands of businesses. Fatehi OBE said that the UK could not achieve growth in every postcode without actively strengthening the capital ' s appeal for investment, talent and job creation, and that the most successful economies built a consensus around their capital succeeding. The comments followed Chancellor John Healey ' s keynote speech ahead of the 28 October Budget, in which he set out plans for an‘ active’ state and declined to rule out further tax rises.
When London succeeds, so does the UK
London ' s competitiveness should be treated as a national mission. In an interview with the London Daily News, Karim Fatehi OBE explained that investments which the capital failed to attract were more likely to move to international rivals than to other UK cities. He added that London businesses could not absorb further costs and needed stability to hire and invest and called on the government to rule out any further tax rises and deliver wholesale business rates reform, including a lower multiplier of at least 45p.
These requests are part of LCCI ' s policy campaign, Choose LDN. which also proposes a King ' s Cross AI investment zone and continued backing for major infrastructure projects. Citing new LCCI polling, Fatehi also warned that housing and living costs were making it harder for young people to build their futures in the capital. He concluded that because London contributes more than a fifth of UK economic output, its success benefits every part of the country.
Vittoria Zerbini is policy assistant at LCCI