Tomorrow George Osborne will step up to his soap-box to deliver his eagerly anticipated Pre-Budget Report. We asked Teesside firms what measures they would like the Chancellor to introduce to kick-start an economic revival.

MIKE ODYSSEAS, managing director of Stockton telecommunications provider Odyssey Systems, wants to see money earmarked for business incentives ploughed back into the public coffers.

He said: “It’s a question of putting the interests of the country before party politics.

“It would be good to see the Government put its focus on the wider economic problems in the PBR and use what money it might, in normal circumstances, plough into business incentives, to pay off a portion of our debt.

“As a businessman, I would rather see the Treasury take this bigger picture approach, which will have a longer-lasting positive effect on the economic conditions in which we do business, than a series of smaller incentives and short-term fixes.”

GEORGE RAFFERTY, chief executive of business development group NOF Energy, wants ministers to provide incentives to encourage UK participation in offshore schemes.

He says: “Any measures to maximise the recovery of hydrocarbons from the North Sea, along with support for UK offshore renewables developments, would be extremely welcome by the energy sector supply chain.

“I would be particularly keen to see incentives to encourage oil and gas and renewables operators to further utilise British suppliers for their developments in UK waters.

“Ensuring there is sufficient UK content in these developments is a major issue for the supply chain.

“If we can keep a proportion of the supply chain requirements for these projects in the UK, not only will it create jobs and investment but it will deliver increased tax revenues for the public purse.”