Ms Leach said a swift decline in business confidence, the rise in national insurance contributions and minimum wage hike announced at the recent Budget, as well as reforms to employment law “seem to have cooled business dynamism in the UK”.
Ms Leach said: “Our most recent polling shows that addressing the tax burden on business is crucial for lifting business confidence, followed by a scaling back of employment regulations and improving the UK’s EU trading relationship.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show 65,450 new businesses were created across the UK in the three months to December – down 8.5% from the same quarter a year earlier and the lowest number of any quarter since records began in 2017.
“While the recent shift in the Government’s rhetoric to emphasise growth is welcome, it is clear that the breadth and scale of cost increases announced at the Budget will continue to dampen entrepreneurial activity and economic growth.
Anna Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said the drop in business births was “concerning” and called on the Government to alleviate financial and recruiting pressures on businesses.
