With just over two weeks to go, nervousness has set in among business leaders ahead of the Budget. Rumours have swirled for weeks about the tax and spend decisions that will be announced on 30 October, as the new Labour government has spent much of its first 100 days dampening any raised hopes by repeating its claim that it has to fill a £22bn “black hole” in the public purse.

Ruling out raising taxes on “working people” means the burden has to fall elsewhere, namely on businesses. Capital gains tax and employer contributions to National Insurance are the two main areas for concern, while the chancellor is also expected to reform the fiscal rules she inherited, potentially freeing up as much as £57bn for infrastructure investment, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.

The exact policy levers and pain points we will not know until Budget day. What we do know is that in an attempt to inject some positivity into what has become a wet and rather miserable October the government hosted its glitzy International Investment Summit in London this week. Elton John and King Charles aside, the focus was very deliberately on growth.