Business groups have given a generally warm reception to the big announcements at this year's Budget. We asked a handful of business owners and senior executives what they thought about specific measures.

Following the announcement that fuel duty has been frozen past September 2014, Alistair Bingle, managing director at removals business Bishop’s Move, said:

“The past 12 months has brought good news to businesses that rely on the roads on which to operate. The chancellor would have had one eye on the 2015 election.

“By announcing that he’s committed to the fuel duty freeze past the next election then this gives industries, such as haulage, the breathing space in which to plan and grow over the next 18 months and thus, create more job opportunities.

“However, there was an opportunity there to reduce fuel duty to further bolster the economy. With that said, this news is welcomed by our industry and, as the Help to Buy scheme supports more first time buyers onto the property ladder, we can now simply focus on getting Britain moving once more.”

Reacting to the 40p tax threshold, Peter Burgess, managing director at recruitment company Retail Human Resources, said:

“The Tory MPs complaining about the 40p tax threshold increase are missing the point. This was initially given to the poorest working people in our society which is not only socially and morally the right thing to do but is also important from an economic point of view.

We have to make work more attractive than being on benefits. It was never the intention that the whole workforce would benefit from this. The adjustment to the 40p threshold is merely to cancel out the gain from the personal allowance. These people are not worse off but they were certainly not better off either.

“These Tory MPs would be better placed addressing the issue of all personal allowance being cancelled when someone earns £100k. This is a regressive tax as in fact those people are paying a 62% rate of tax on the next £12k before it reduces again to 40%. That cannot be right or fair.”

Emphasising business rate relief, extended at today’s Budget, Tim Ryan, executive chairman at insurance brokers UNA Alliance, said:

“The Budget announcements were made with one eye firmly on the 2015 General Election. A commitment to freezing business rates gives enterprises of all shapes the sizes some breathing space in which to grow and boost local economies in 2014 and beyond.

“We have seen how the Government now brings in £27bn from business rates; this is more than council tax and fuel duty. By freezing business rates this has eased the burden on businesses and given time for the tax to be reformed over the next couple of years.

“With greater relief, SMEs also now have an incentive to make crucial investment decisions, some of which may have been delayed waiting for this announcement. If we can get the mid-sized businesses to unleash their capital, it will stimulate further growth and give the economy another push forwards.

“There is little doubt that UK SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy and the Government’s strapline of “Britain is very much now open for business” is now looking more realistic.”