Jamie Nelson of Compass Business Finance said that an increase in the capital available through the Funding for Lending scheme (FLS) would boost the economy, and hoped chancellor George Osborne would announce an extension of the heavily criticised FLS, in his speech.
Tories and Lib Dems are said to be backing the proposal to extend the programme with a stronger focus on business after transparency measures revealed that it favoured mortage loans over lending to SMEs.
"It needs to be changed in any way to help the money get to the right people," Nelson said.
Forum of Private Business head of policy Alex Jackman said: "There’s been talk of Government putting a rocket under its flagship FLS scheme since the news it was failing to hit business lending targets.
"That would certainly be welcome, just how they do that, and quickly, we don’t know. The facts are too much FLS cash has gone to the mortgage markets, and this needs to be refocused on SME lending."
Pureprint sales and marketing director Richard Owers said that lending should increase to encourage investment in the latest technologies in print.
"There is no doubt that it is one of the most exciting times with the growth of digital printing and there are huge efficiencies to be gained in our industry through investing, so any further assistance or tax concessions for investment in technology would be useful.
"The revival of the print industry is hampered by not being able to invest, and there is such a big difference in productivity with between new and old technology."
BPIF public affairs advisor, Andrew Brown slammed the FLS by saying: "They are going to have to do something or else it will be seen as a failure by anybody’s definition."
He called for details of a timescale on the development of a Small Business Bank, as proposed by the government ahead of the last Autumn Statement and said that there should be more incentives and fewer barriers to lending to encourage an increase in financial help from new lenders.
But he was concerned about the news that the government has accepted the majority of Lord Heseltine’s proposals put forward in his "No Stone Unturned" report, as he believed that allocating funds to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) could be damaging to the industry.
"The print sector is present in all local regions but not dominant in many so I am concerned that print will be overlooked if funding is dissolved to LEPs. They are fledgling set-ups but I don’t think they are in a position to manage funds of that size," he said.
Sidney Bobb, chairman of the British Association for Print and Communication (BAPC), said that he wanted to see more help given to micro businesses in the form of tax reliefs as "we are a nation of shopkeepers and that’s where growth could come from".
His views were supported by Vario Press managing director David Clarke, who made the most of December’s capital gains allowance increase by investing, but called for the relaxation to be extended past the proposed two years.
Clarke said that a reduction in VAT for end users and taking lower paid UK residents out of taxation schemes would indirectly boost the print sector.
He said: "It would boost the high street, car and building industry, and whether we like it or not, we are driven by those three industries. If they have a boost by reduction in VAT – maybe a 10% reduction for a year – that would help business in general."
BPIF’s Brown agreed: "A cut in taxation would stimulate the economy by increasing consumer demand.
"But we would have to borrow to do that, and that would be a fundamental change in direction for the coalition; it is not part of their strategy."
He also called for fuel duty increase to be axed altogether, rather than continually pushing its introduction date back as was done in the last budget.
"There is not a huge amount of room for manoeuvre because the government did everything it could fiscally in the Autumn Statement."
BAPC’s Bobb said: "The economy needs a kick up the backside, but how the government is going to do that, nobody knows.
"It is not going to be a giveaway budget, but it would be good to keep restrictions to a minimum."
Pureprint’s Owers added: "The key thing for everybody in business, particularly a service business such as print, is to introduce measures which stimulate the economy because our levels of activity are very much related to the general economic levels of activity."
