By Abdul Gofer & Glenn Collins

The upcoming Autumn Budget is the most hotly anticipated date in the finance and business calendar. There’s no doubt that the Chancellor faces a difficult economic landscape to navigate.

Sluggish economic growth, higher National Insurance contributions (NICs) hitting employers hard, and reduced investment in skills and staff across the board. The UK economy is suffering from a general feeling of malaise, and trust is being stretched thin between the government and small businesses in particular.

From the off, Labour talked about the ‘fiscal black hole’. Steps to tackle this have been slow to come to fruition, and weak economic growth is evidence of that. As finance professionals and the leading global accountancy body, ACCA understands that economic changes can take time to be felt and realised in people’s pockets and on balance sheets.

What is more worrying is that sentiment has remained negative. Our members have expressed dissatisfaction, and the state of the economy was ranked........

© LBC