The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 34: Autumn 2024 | Page 10

South West Business Finance is a broker of credit and not a lender . South West Business Finance is a trading name of Aspire Commercial Finance Limited Registered in England & Wales under No : 09076273 . Aspire Commercial Finance Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ( 690089 ) also a member of the NACFB ( 06 / 0035 / CM ) funding solutions for your business and property needs
FINANCE
ADVERTISING FEATURE

Breakfast , networking and an economic briefing from Mark Berrisford-Smith

The team at South West Business Finance ( SWBF ) are hosting their Economic Breakfast Briefing this October .
Dan Smith , Co-Founder at SWBF , said , “ We are delighted to invite the local business community to our upcoming Economic Breakfast Briefing at Cumberwell Park Golf Club on Thursday 10th October .
“ Following last year ’ s well-received event , we have the great honour of being joined again by Mark Berrisford-Smith , who was Head of Economics at HSBC and presented our first Economic Briefing in 2023 . He will be providing us with a very insightful update on the current state of the UK economy and what we might expect moving forward .
“ This is a free event , and really is a seminar not to be missed as well as a fantastic networking opportunity . We had some great feedback from our first event and are really looking forward to hosting this follow-up session .”
Mark Berrisford-Smith said , “ By the time the South West Business Forum seminar takes place on 10th October , the new Labour government will be almost 100 days old . The event will therefore provide a good opportunity to reflect on its early policy announcements and to look ahead to the autumn Budget .
“ Labour ’ s priority , repeated many times , is to get the economy growing at a faster rate than it has managed in the years since the global financial crisis . But if this was easy it would already have been done , and initiatives such as planning reform will not bear fruit quickly . In any event , after the stagflation of the past two years , any growth at all would be welcome .
“ The good news is that activity has perked up since the start of the year , not thanks to anything that governments have done , but simply because borrowing costs have stopped rising and energy costs have fallen . But the revival remains fragile , against an extremely dangerous geopolitical backdrop , as the war in Ukraine rages on and the world contemplates the prospect of a second Trump presidency . On positive notes , consumer confidence has revived in recent months , and at an aggregate level the “ cost of living crisis ” is in the past . Yet households continue to hold back a high proportion of their incomes , which means that consumer spending ( so often the motor of the British economy ) is still misfiring .
“ Meanwhile , the immediate challenge for the new Chancellor is that the fiscal arithmetic has deteriorated since Jeremy Hunt ’ s Budget in March . With the public finances in such a precarious state , the new government will have next to no wriggle room , unless it is prepared to take bold measures to raise taxation , cut spending , or both . Perhaps by 10th October we ’ ll have some clues as to how it intends to break the logjam .”
If you would like more information on this event please email : nataliecharteris @ swbf . co . uk
South West Business Finance is a broker of credit and not a lender . South West Business Finance is a trading name of Aspire Commercial Finance Limited Registered in England & Wales under No : 09076273 . Aspire Commercial Finance Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ( 690089 ) also a member of the NACFB ( 06 / 0035 / CM ) funding solutions for your business and property needs

01225 800849 www . swbf . co . uk

6 www . tbebathandsomerset . co . uk