We were pleased to welcome Rachel Reeves, MP for Leeds West and Pudsey and Chancellor of the Exchequer, to our Leeds depot recently, the depot being within her constituency.
We explained to her some of the difficulties the business currently faces. These include the physical and economic dangers our staff face when carrying out European moving through the operation of the Civil Penalty Scheme if illegal immigrants gain access to our vehicles. We also drew her attention to the difficulties with the EU’s rules which only allow Brits to spend 90 days in 180 in Europe, there being no exemption for professional drivers and crew. We talked about how this would impact some of our staff who carry out European moving frequently.
We told her about the inflexibility we saw in the Apprenticeship Levy which didn’t work equally across the four nations. We handed over a copy the British Association of Removers Budget Submission which made reference to the business rents, decarbonisation and the operation of the housing market.
It is not often you get the opportunity to have a one-to-one for 45 minutes with the Chancellor of the day and we are grateful for the opportunity to put some of our concerns in front of such a high ranking politician.