£650m AstraZeneca investment boost as Hunt targets growth

Plans for a £650m investment by AstraZeneca to build a new vaccine manufacturing hub in Liverpool and expand its footprint in Cambridge were among the measures announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in a Budget he said would help drive long term growth.The investment in Liverpool’s life sciences sector follows the announcement of £31m of new money for regeneration earlier this month.As trailed before the Chancellor’s speech, the main rate of employee National Insurance will be cut again by a further 2 percentage points from 10 per cent to 8 per cent in April.Following a 1 percentage point cut in the Autumn Statement, the main rate of Class 4 NICs for the self-employed will be cut by a further 2 percentage points from 8 per cent to 6 per cent from April.The six-month alcohol duty freeze announced at Autumn Statement will be extended until 1 February 2025, while a 5p cut and freeze to fuel duty is maintained until March 2025.New tax reliefs and investments aim to establish the UK as a world leader in high-growth industries such as the creative sector, advanced manufacturing and life sciences, while 28,000 SMEs will be taken out of VAT registration altogether – encouraging them to invest and grow.The government announced further details of six Investment Zones: Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, North East of England, South Yorkshire, West Midlands and Tees. This includes offering tax reliefs to attract businesses to these areas, and initial investments in a range of interventions including on skills, research and innovation, and infrastructure.