Leading audit, tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg is calling on the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to reconsider her approach to boosting the UK economy.
According to Partner Simon Gleeson, the government’s current focus on large-scale, long-term infrastructure projects overlooks pressing political and economic realities.
“The Chancellor gave a speech today outlining her plans for improving the UK’s growth,” Gleeson said. “However, ‘growth’ seems to have become a catch-all term that sidesteps the real challenges facing major infrastructure initiatives, such as HS2 and its cost overruns.”
Gleeson questioned the viability of the Chancellor’s “short-term pain, long-term gain” narrative, pointing out that major projects like a third runway at Heathrow could take over a decade to deliver. Likewise, creating a ‘Silicon Valley’ between Oxford and Cambridge is a longer-term commitment requiring substantial public investment. “These are major undertakings when the so-called ‘£22 billion black hole’ is still part of the economic conversation,” he added.
Instead, Gleeson argued that the Chancellor should prioritise policies that can generate immediate, sustainable growth. “The UK economy is stagnating,” he said. “Rethinking Employers NIC changes could be the government’s ‘mea culpa’ moment—acknowledging a misstep and offering a prompt solution, rather than focusing on aspirational long-term targets.”
He explained that pausing and revising these national insurance contributions would positively impact family incomes, job creation, and the upskilling of younger generations, including apprentices and recent graduates. “Unlocking investment from pension funds and driving deregulation in business are also more realistic ways to create jobs and stabilise working-class incomes,” Gleeson said, emphasising that any further uncertainty could harm both individuals and businesses.
The public, Gleeson continued, is “tired of hearing about ‘the last Government’,” and now needs concrete action from the current administration. “Casting blame and talking only about future, long-term objectives isn’t enough,” he said. “We need a clear, immediate economic strategy that delivers tangible results.”