John Longworth, director general of British Chamber of Commerce speaking at a Norfolk Chamber of Commerce routes to growth conference at the Sprowston Marriott Hotel

Creating confidence was key to helping businesses kickstart the recovery, the director of the British Chamber of Commerce told a meeting of Norfolk business leaders and MPs today.

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John Longworth said the chamber’s call for a Plan A plus which would see government spending on road and rail links and increasing capacity at airports were crucial measures to leveraging in private sector investment and encouraging growth.

He said that while businesses were finding life tough at the moment the outlook was not as bleak as was often reported in the media, but much could depend on what happened in the Eurozone.

He also said the government should look at short term measures such as boosting credit allowances particularly for smaller firms to encourage them to invest or export.

“If we can get business confidence moving so that they have the confidence to invest and take people on, then we can start to move in a much better way,” Mr Longworth said.

“We think we can have on a short term basis credit allowances for businesses prepared to invest in the next year, particularly smaller businesses, but without it being a problem to the ‘Plan A’ envelope.

“We have got to stick to Plan A, as it’s important to the UK economy that we keep the same rate of borrowing,” he added. “The most important thing to take away is that we are not in a recession - we are bottoming along with minimal growth. The indicators are that we are not going to go into a recession this year, unless something goes wrong with the Eurozone.”

However none of the delegates appeared to wander off the coalition government’s current script of sticking the deficit reduction plans, and there was no hint of measures such as a targeted VAT cut, which some businesses have called for, or mention of raising of the minimum tax threshhold which has been mooted by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

Great Yarmouth MP Brandon Lewis told delegates that meaures such as the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft zone with its relaxed tax and planning rules would also help create jobs, while the county also needed to press for full dualling of the A47.

South-West Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss emphasised the importance of good skills and training and said more needed to be done to encourage youngsters in Norfolk to study maths and sciences, while Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman stressed the crucial role that the life sciences sector around the Norwich Research Park could play in fuelling growth.