“I’m just happy that other businesses have been offered help” – Salford business talks about what the budget means for them

The owner of a fashion brand has reacted to what the 2021 budget means for them in Salford, and what they hope to see going forward.

Harry Gray, 25, runs a fashion business out of his apartment on the Crescent, called errornogo, and he’s glad that the recent budget announcements favour small businesses, including his own. 

He said: “I’m just happy that other small businesses that have struggled have been offered help.

“It’s all intertwining, I need a healthy economy and I need people in employment otherwise no ones going to buy my products.”

This comes after the budget announcement that corporation tax will increase to 25% in 2023, unless your profits are less than £50,000, in which case it will remain at 19%.

Harry’s business falls under the £50,000 threshold, meaning he qualifies to keep his corporation tax at the same level. 

Businesses also have an upcoming benefit in the ‘super deductions’, where they will be able to get tax relief on R&D investments. 

The aim is to encourage an acceleration on business investments in tangible assets, with tax bills being reduced by 130% of the cost if done so.

This is another budget announcement that will benefit Harry’s business, despite him working from home.

He said: “The super deduction is really good because it means I can easily invest more money back into my company by investing in technology for the future.”

With that, he recognises that there are still challenges for local businesses of his scale: 

“Lockdown at first gave us a boom in sales, but since then there’s been a gradual decline where we slipped back below what I’d expect in a regular year.

Whilst the corporation tax relief on small businesses and super deduction will be good for Harry’s work, he’s aware that not everyone is so lucky. 

He said: “Even as a business owner, I’m still interested in the health of this city as a whole as well as my own work, I want to live somewhere with a booming centre.”

“We’re still looking for that moment where things are nearly going back to normal.”

You can find Harry’s fashion brand at errornogo.com