Essex business owner concerned ahead of Budget
Sam Dimond runs a firm in Chelmsford
A businessman in Essex has been telling us what he ants to see, ahead of tomorrow's Autumn Budget statement.
Chancellor, Rachel Reeves will announce a raft of measures, claiming to put working people at the heart of them.
Sam Dimond runs a small local busines: event hire production company in Chelmsford.
He's seen a growth of 50% rise, in terms of hiring staff, over the past year.
Sam says because of this, he is concerned about what the budget might have in store for him in terms of employer’s national insurance contributions and also the possibility of ditching the fuel duty discount.
Sam said: “We operate with tight margins. If an employer’s national insurance contributions are upped, even by just 1 percent, then my total operational costs go up by a percent.
"This will affect my profitability and we are a small company. To cope we are likely to be forced to offload these additional expenses onto clients, which will potentially increase the prices for our services.
"It worries me that this could mean a loss of competitiveness for some of us especially for businesses that compete with larger firms that can absorb those costs more easily."