Everything from skills to finance and from lay payments to potential tax rises were on the agenda for businesses from a cross section of industries.

Tim Squires, the chair of the Local Business Forum, said: “It’s still a very uncertain period and I think we all hoped that the election would help to remove some of that uncertainty for businesses and provide more confidence moving forward.

“The new Government came to power with a very pro-growth agenda and a very business friendly outlook but in recent weeks, as we look ahead to the budget, the mood has become much less positive.

“We understand that Government finances must be balanced but the build-up to the budget in late October has created more uncertainty for firms. And, when they are uncertain, they don’t invest.

“There are some difficult decisions ahead and I really hope that the Chancellor finds ways to deliver confidence and reassurance for firms – as well as support where it is needed – in order to get the economy moving again.”

Sean Rose, the head of policy at the Chamber, said the organisation was taking views from members in order to develop campaign themes later in the year.

He said: “We listen to businesses every single day of the week and feed all of that back to decision-makers at a local, regional and national level. We will start to develop campaigns later this year to help raise the profile of the most important issues our members are facing to bring about change.

“We will be keeping a very close eye on the Autumn Budget too, and I have no doubt that any announcements will be a hot topic of discussion at the Chamber’s Annual Business and Economic Conference, which is taking place at the IXL Events Centre just a week later.”

For more information or to book onto the conference go to https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/events/annual-business-economic-conference-2024/