As the Budget moves closer into view, it looks like business execs will be met with stark awakenings in post-August office reset, writes Chris Hayward

As summer holidays fade into the rear-view mirror, businesses, investors and politicians are turning their thoughts to the Budget.

Economists predict – with unnerving, unseemly uniformity – the need for the Chancellor to shore up the UK’s precarious public finances by raising further tax revenues. Unsurprisingly, this reality is not lost on those toiling in the Square Mile.

Let me speak plainly. The post-holiday return to the office will present a stark awakening for senior business leaders and government ministers lucky enough not to have been called into action over summer.

Given the extremes presented by the external operating environment, the focus for business leaders must be on influencing what they can change for the better.

As parliament returns, three areas on my mind........

© City A.M.