Devolution

The public consultation on devolution for Essex closed on 13 April. I’m aware some members responded to it – as we did as Essex Chambers. Our response was positive overall but also reflected a minority view from one or two members who were less supportive. Government has been keen to check that business supports the direction of travel towards a mayor and a combined county authority so it was important that members made their views known. We are also writing this week to ministers to set out why we support the devolution ambitions of Essex, Southend and Thurrock. Things will probably be quiet over the summer but should pick up later in the year and will certainly get interesting once candidates for Mayor declare themselves publicly!

US tariffs

The Trump administration’s decision to introduce widespread tariffs has dominated the news in recent weeks and is of course destabilising, to say the least, for the UK and other economies. We are grateful to those members who responded to our recent survey on the impact of the tariffs and we are feeding the results through to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). BCC are sufficiently well resourced to have a dedicated international trade team which meets with UK government ministers and they will be looking via the correct channels to liaise with the US government and agencies to address problems and issues which UK exporters may be facing. Do please keep us informed of any issues so that we can make sure they get raised and dealt with.

c2c: Moving into public ownership  

Members will be aware that c2c, along with all other privately owned rail companies, are being brought back into public ownership as existing contracts come to an end. In c2c’s case this will happen on 20 July 2025.
 
c2c is a high-performing, industry-leading railway, and a valued Chambers member. As residents and businesses, we all - particularly those of us based in the south of Essex - have a stake and genuine interest in it continuing to be successful through the transition of ownership and beyond. Key to this will be continued investment over the coming years in rolling stock, ticketing solutions and stations, and also the supporting infrastructure (tracks, signals, points etc) which are managed and maintained by Network Rail. This continued investment will be required regardless of the ownership model.
 
We will soon be a launching a membership survey to get your views (as a business) on what you feel c2c does particularly well, along with any improvements you would like to see made. 
 
The Chambers enjoy a positive working relationship with c2c having partnered with them on many business, community and charity initiatives over the years, and we will be sharing the findings of this survey with their senior team to ensure that c2c continues to provide the high level of service we deserve.

Th UK’s rail network is a key component of our transport infrastructure which businesses rely upon, and we encourage you to complete the survey and have your say once it’s published. 
 
If in the meantime, if you have any comments about c2c then feel free to forward them to me. 

SME access to finance

Accessing finance has been a longstanding issue in the UK i.e. there many barriers to SMEs getting finance when they need it and the government recently launched a Call for Evidence so that it can examine the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and, we hope, make improvements. David Burton-Sampson, MP for Southend West and Leigh, is taking a close interest as a former banker and SME owner himself who wants to see change. He recently hosted a meeting in Westminster, attended by the Chambers, some lenders and SMEs, to identify the common issues – typically, risk-averse lenders, high interest rates, burdensome paperwork but also sometimes lack of financial capacity on the part of the borrower.

Give your opinion to the Call for Evidence (see section on How to Respond) which closes on 8 May.

We will respond so if you would prefer to address any comments to me, please feel free to do so before that deadline and I will incorporate them into the Chambers response.

If you want to know more or have questions or comments about any of the above please get in touch with me: iainmcnab@essexchambers.co.uk.