BUSINESS owners and campaigners have given their reaction to the Budget, welcoming measures designed to boost property and construction, and changes to tax and national insurance.

George Osborne announced a further £3 billion a year in infrastructure spending, slashed 1p off a pint of beer and scrapped the planned three per cent rise in fuel duty.

The Chancellor also promised help for first-time home buyers with a new help-to-buy scheme for people struggling to find a deposit and an interest-free Government loan worth 20 per cent of the value of a new build home.

And there was also the announcement of a rise in personal allowance, meaning there will be no income tax on the first £10,000 earned, along with the first £2,000 to be taken off all employer’s National Insurance bills.

Mike Banton, of Bolton building firm Artez, said: “There was some good news. The ‘help to buy’ mortgage scheme sounds fantastic. With only half as many houses being built as there is a demand for, the introduction of mortgage support, regardless of buyers’ personal incomes, is significant. George Osborne’s promise of an extra £3 billion of public sector infrastructure investment per year from 2015/16 is also very interesting.”

Holly Bonfield, who runs Holly Bonfield Consulting and is secretary of the Federation of Small Businesses Greater Manchester North branch, added: “The federation asked for a budget for small businesses and this is what has been delivered.

This budget opens the door for small firms to grow and create jobs.

“The housing initiative will help reinvigorate the construction sector in which many of our members operate and where confidence has been low.

“The National Insurance contributions cut goes beyond what we were asking for and we are pleased to see the 3p fuel duty rise due in September scrapped.

We now look forward to hearing details on how the Government intends to take forward the Business Bank that will help provide much needed access to capital for small firms.”

Dr Brian Sloan, chief economist at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, added: “The announcement of the Employment Allowance will offer some help for small businesses to reduce the cost of employing staff and ultimately the cost of doing business, which we urged the Chancellor to look at in our Budget submission.

“Businesses will particularly welcome the abandoning of the fuel duty rise in September.

“We were disappointed that the Chancellor didn’t outline further infrastructure investment from the £3 billion of departmental savings and we are concerned that next month all businesses will feel the brunt of a rise in business rates.”

Damian Waters, CBI North West director, said: “The budget needed to deliver a good dose of business and consumer confidence, while being necessarily fiscally neutral.

“We’re particularly pleased our call for a focus on the short-term boost of housing has been heeded, alongside an increase in longer-term infrastructure spending.

“An extra one penny cut in corporation tax will also make the UK one of the most internationally competitive locations.

“Small and medium-sized businesses will be particularly encouraged that there was money available for the Chancellor to cut the jobs tax through a new employment allowance.”

Graham Walsh, secretary of Bolton Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “We are is very pleased the Chancellor has listened to the long and passionate campaign by CAMRA members and scrapped the beer duty escalator, a damaging tax which has contributed to the loss of more than 5,800 pubs since its introduction, including 15 in Bolton last year alone.

“This move shows that the Government has finally started to recognise the contribution pubs make to communities and society.”