Business investment in the UK haulage industry fell by 17.8 per cent year-on-year as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the economy, according tospecialist tax relief consultancy Catax.
Catax's analysis of latest ONS data shows total business investment in the UK transportation and storage sector fell to £2.6bn in the second quarter of 2020, down from £3.1bn in Q2 2019.
Mark Tighe, CEO of tax relief consultancy Catax, said: “This year has caught everyone off guard. The second quarter was when the pandemic really saw economies slamming on the brakes, with the national lockdown in the UK being announced on March 23, just before it began.
“However, the haulage sector has actually fared much better than other industries. Both the utilities and hospitality sectors saw business investment drop by more than half as coronavirus disruption got the country in its teeth.'
Overall business investment across UK industry fell 26.1 per cent in Q2 compared with the second quarter of 2019, while UK GDP shrank 20.4 per cent in Q2, with widespread declines across all main sectors of the economy, Catax said.
“It will take some time for business investment to climb back to where it was at the start of the year, when the only threat on the horizon appeared to be Brexit negotiations. The speed of that recovery will depend very much on how long the second wave lasts and how much disruption is to come,” Tighe added.
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