"The profit's gone. It's gone in the diesel tank." That's how one business leader summed up the Budget's impact on SMEs at this week's Gatwick Diamond briefing. What we heard: 🔹 It's the combined weight of employer NI, wage rises and employment rights that's hurting, not any single measure 🔹 Hiring and apprenticeships are being cut as a result 🔹 A £720bn infrastructure pipeline needs ~695,000 workers, but the skills system isn't delivering them 🔹 Devolution offers real lo

But the bigger story in today's Budget is what happens in 2028. That is when three things converge for our region: 1⃣ The first mayors for Sussex & Brighton and Hampshire & the Solent take office 2⃣ Mayors start receiving a share of income tax raised locally 3⃣ Powers to introduce an overnight visitor levy come into force Put simply: from 2028, more of the money that shapes our coast, countryside and town centres will be raised and spent here. That is a real opportunity. It i

Our readiness scorecard puts Reform UK (7.8/10), the Greens (7.3) and the Conservatives (7.0) within a point of each other, with Labour (5.3) rebuilding will the Burnham bounce reach as far as the south coast? The Lib Dems (5.8) have the base to compete, but losing their candidate and being slow to select another has hampered their chances. Two things make May 2028 hard to call: 📊 Voting intentions are moving fast. Reform led the county elections in May with 29%. Today the C