Autumn Budget 2018: Encouraging, But Not Enough

We recently spoke to Bdaily to give our views on what we hoped to expect from this year’s Autumn Budget.

As a business which provides a vital support service to ambitious and innovative North East businesses, a large portion of our work at Generator has been possible thanks to European Regional Development Funding.

In an ideal world, we wanted to see government make more long-term alternative funding available so the growth of the creative digital and tech sectors, on a regional and national scale, doesn’t become stifled.

Whilst it was encouraging to see the Chancellor place an emphasis on the importance of stimulating business investment, recognising the vital role that entrepreneurs, start-ups and scale-ups play in our economy by introducing a range of supportive measures, yesterday’s Budget didn’t go far enough.

The North East is home to a large number of fast-growing and dynamic creative, digital and tech businesses that have the potential to bolster our regional and national economy with the right support – but this support is still wanting.

There is also still a deep sense of uncertainty about the state of play should a no-deal Brexit become a reality, and in particular, how this will affect the sector when it comes to even retaining the talent it needs to remain competitive and keep growing.

A no-deal Brexit could have significant repercussions and we need to understand how this could potentially impact on exports, IP issues and overseas investment so businesses can prepare accordingly.

At Generator, we have already taken steps to prepare for the very real possibility that additional alternative funding won’t be an option. It’s a challenge but one we’re ready to embrace.

Despite uncertainty around Brexit and a lack of public funding, we’re confident that the creative, digital and tech industry in the North East, which is one of the fastest growing outside London, is strong enough and dynamic enough to forge ahead and make the most of the opportunities available.