
Thames Valley business ‘keeps the faith’ on Levelling Up agenda
The new Prime Minister’s inbox may well overflow with priorities, but the Thames Valley business community has once again shown its faith in Levelling Up. The policy agenda, the most recent take on decades of debate about how to rebalance the UK economy, had been a major focus of the outgoing leader Boris Johnson. New […]
The new Prime Minister’s inbox may well overflow with priorities, but the Thames Valley business community has once again shown its faith in Levelling Up.
The policy agenda, the most recent take on decades of debate about how to rebalance the UK economy, had been a major focus of the outgoing leader Boris Johnson.
New research from Grant Thornton UK LLP’s latest Business Outlook Tracker shows his successor that the majority of mid-sized businesses (68%) in the Thames Valley believe that the Levelling Up agenda will help their local area – only 6% disagreed. Most firms (62%) also believe that the government’s plans will be beneficial to local businesses.
The results show recognition that the Levelling Up agenda cannot be delivered by one sector alone and that UK Plc has a key role to play in its success. 60% of Thames Valley based respondents see companies like theirs playing an important role in the Levelling Up agenda.
The results also reflect which of the government’s 12 Levelling Up missions are most important to local businesses. Each mission was identified as one of the top three priorities in a region, at least once, demonstrating the differing issues needing to be addressed across the UK.
Thames Valley based respondents identified the following as the top priorities in their region:
- Support investment in R&D (30%)
- Improve people’s health (30%)
- Support the creation of better paid jobs (24%)
- Give more power to local politicians (22%)
- Invest in school education (22%)
Norman Armstrong, practice leader for Grant Thornton UK LLP in the Thames Valley and Southampton, said: “Levelling Up is clearly not just about the economy but about delivering better life outcomes for all our citizens across an incredibly diverse region. Whilst it’s clear that not every region will require the same level or type of intervention, it’s about making sure that there’s a consistent agenda that we’re all working towards.
“Often conversations around Levelling Up exclude the Thames Valley, but the agenda offers some big opportunities that shouldn’t be ignored. As our research has shown, there are quite a few areas that are of interest to local business leaders and which they are hoping will help plug major education, health, skills and quality of life gaps.
“Given the region’s strengths in tech and advanced research it might be surprising that R&D investment tops the priority list. However, this underlines the fact that all parts of the region are not equal and some communities feel left behind as the UK’s Silicon Valley powers ahead. Hopefully we will also soon start seeing improvements in the region’s health landscape – which was identified as a vital mission by business leaders – with six new hospitals promised by the end of the decade.
“There is no doubt that Levelling Up is both crucially important yet extremely demanding to deliver. The scope of the agenda is so vast that it cannot be achieved without successful public and private sector collaboration and it’s also vital that local authorities recognise the important contribution businesses can make.”
More in Finance & Insurance

Seek help to avoid the wealth tax trap
Experts are urging ordinary people to take advice to avoid falling into the inheritance tax (IHT) trap.

Purbeck Personal Guarantee Monitor Q2 2022
125% year on year increase in loans secured with personal guarantee attached July 2022: Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance, the U.K.’s first and only provider of personal guarantee insurance has published its Q2 2022 figures on the take up of Personal Guarantee backed loans by small business owners, based on the volume of personal guarantee insurance […]

1 in 10 BBLS Loans in Arrears by 90 plus days
PRESS RELEASE 1 in 10 BBLS Loans in Arrears by 90 plus days, £29k owed on average July 2022: A Freedom of Information request to the British Business Bank by Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance, the U.K.’s only provider of personal guarantee insurance (PGI) to small business owners has uncovered the scale of […]
From this author

Grant Thornton names new Thames Valley Practice Leader
Leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP has appointed Norman Armstrong as its new Practice Leader in the Thames Valley and Southampton region. In his new role, Norman will be responsible for leading and developing Grant Thornton’s regional team of more than 350 people based across the firm’s Reading, Southampton and Oxford offices. […]

Inflation driving Thames Valley businesses into ‘uncharted territory’
The highest rates of inflation seen in a generation are having a huge impact on businesses across the Thames Valley, which are having to raise their prices in response, according to new research from Grant Thornton UK LLP. In its latest Business Outlook Tracker* survey, Grant Thornton found that 50% of the Thames Valley’s mid-market […]

Customers pay the price as volatile supply chains pressure mid-market
Research from Grant Thornton UK LLP’s latest Business Outlook Tracker research, which looks specifically at 370 leaders of businesses with a supply chain, shows that over half (52%) are finding it harder to operate their business today, compared to 12 months ago. To manage cost pressures, 61% of respondents said that their suppliers have agreed […]