Responding to the Spending Review on 11 June 2025, Ross McNally, Chief Executive and Executive Chairman of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said:

“The key question is whether or not the Chancellor has done enough to secure consistent investment so as to unlock business confidence and opportunities for growth. We of course welcome the headline commitment to invest in skills and critical infrastructure but this comes against a backdrop of extremely low business confidence."

“Business performance needs to pick up quickly and substantially in order to generate the wealth and tax receipts that will enable that wider investment to happen. It remains a challenging time of cost pressures for too many firms and so if the economy does not perform in the coming months we could face the prospect of more tax rises come the autumn."

“We would have liked to see much more government support announced now to open up supply chain opportunities and enable our SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to win procurement contracts. That remains a major challenge for many. At the same time, we are looking at a reduced budget at the Department for Business and Trade over the next three years which is not good news."

“Portsmouth was the only location mentioned south of Swindon in the Chancellor’s speech. It was overly focused on the north and other parts of the UK rather than Hampshire and the south east. That said, her commitment to boost spending on defence capability, security and intelligence, energy, life sciences, home-grown AI and green tech is brilliant for our region. Given our strengths in all these areas, Hampshire is ideally placed as a driver for positive change. We are already an industrial ‘superpower’ for defence industries."

“We also welcome the 350 or so ring-fenced pots of money she announced for local investment coupled with the commitment to address gaps in training provision through Local Skills Improvement Plans and Skills England. If we are going to rebuild communities through new affordable homes, hospitals and so on, we’re going to need many more skilled construction workers to do the job."

“Across Hampshire’s business community, we continue to stand ready to work with government to progress the industrial strategy and unlock growth, but government must likewise work with us to restore and build confidence.”

Photo: Ross McNally, Chief Executive and Executive Chairman of Hampshire Chamber