So what is the outcome of the 2009 budget and, in particular, what impact will it have on the printwear industry?

The headline figure was a 50% higher rate income tax band for those earning over £150,000. It affects some 700,000 people. It comes together with reduced tax relief on pension contributions and reduced personal allowances for those earning over £100,000. Accountants are suggesting that this will result in an exodus of high-earners to more benign tax regimes. It could happen, but I suggest that these wealth generators will sit tight because the provisions don't start until next April and there's an election next year (at the latest).

The car scrappage scheme will, hopefully, help the retail motor industry climb off the floor. It offers a government grant of £1,000 to be matched by the industry. It can be used on all new vehicles under 3.5 tonnes. It has proved a major success in Germany; will it work here? It has two obvious weaknesses: it is limited to the first 300,000 buyers and manufacturers and dealers are typically discounting by at least £1,000 already, so the real impact will not be so significant. I also question whether those driving 10-year-old vehicles can afford (or want) a new car or van. (By the way, you can't dash out and buy a banger to qualify; you must have owned it for more than a year).

Time to buy

VAT is going back to 17.5% in December. This has limited effect on registered businesses but it puts up retail prices and increases prices paid by non-registered or zero-rated businesses. Where possible it will make sense to encourage such customers to buy before the increase takes effect. The retail industry complain about the cost of re-labelling and changes to their tills which this demands.

Fuel duty is taking a double hit: an extra 2p from September, to go with the 2p increase from April 1 will be followed by an annual increase of 1p above inflation. The Chancellor must be hoping that the oil price falls to balance his rises because this increase impacts on everyone. Note to Chancellor: businesses have to make deliveries; transport costs are not optional expenditure. Since the self-employed tradesman is an important market for printwear, rising fuel cost may delay or discourage purchasing.

In the same way, don't expect increased orders from pub companies. Alcohol duty increases are a penny on a pint of beer and 4p on a bottle of wine with 13p on a bottle of spirits. The British Beer and Pub Association says that this latest increase "signs the death warrant for thousands of British pubs". Since they are already closing at a rate of 40 a week, that is an alarming prediction, one that definitely has impact on printwear for whom pubs and their suppliers are an important business sector.

The holiday industry also took a hammering. Air passenger duty is effectively doubled and for long-haul premium fares the increase is as much as four times the rate charged just two years ago. Buying trips to the Far East are going to become more expensive. Fewer people were planning overseas holidays this year and that looks likely to be fewer still now. That could benefit printwear - I hear that caravan parks, hotels and guesthouses throughout the country are experiencing their highest enquiry levels for years. Target your local tourist facilities.

The housing market and the building industry in general are central to economic prosperity and, sure enough, help was provided, but industry commentators say it was just far too little. The stamp duty holiday was extended to the end of the year. My guess is that it will have to be repeated thereafter or we'll see price falls in the crucial sub £175,000 sector, just when stability of prices is returning.

Building a future

Stalled construction projects received a boost. To replace bank finance, the government will effectively buy shares in construction companies. The weakness is that it will only result in an extra 10,000 homes. Should your locality benefit, good luck.

ISA investors received a long overdue boost. The annual maximum for these tax efficient savings structures is increased from £7,200 to £10,200. Still only half that figure can go into a cash ISA whereas the whole figure can go into stocks and shares. Presumably Mr Darling expects us to push the Footsie back up.

Should you have connections with the oil industry there is some good news. New tax incentives have been put in place to encourage extraction of an additional two billion barrels from smaller fields which are currently only marginally viable, due to the fall in the oil price. This is actually the chancellor investing (as distinct from just spending) because it should generate £30 billion in tax revenues.

Similarly the green energy industry received a fillip with £4.5 billion funding to build offshore wind parks. It has already been announced that Walney farm in the Irish Sea will be expanded and the project to build 300 turbines in the Thames estuary is close to approval. That expenditure looks to be working and better still most of the funding came from the European Investment Bank.

If you need new staff, the timing is propitious. The Chancellor announced a £3 billion jobs package. Some of this will be spent on recruitment subsidies for companies taking on 18-24 year olds who have been out of work for more than a year. An existing scheme which helps the older unemployed back to work was also refunded. A 20% upfront payment for hiring a long-term claimant is good business - as long as the prospective employee is capable of work.

Fiscal benefits

The 40% first year allowance for expenditure on plant and machinery has been welcomed in all corners as a pleasant surprise. The machine manufacturers supplying the printwear industry will be encouraged since this gives them a sales story to tell in tough times. Mind, the budget didn't benefit the pound, so that may be swings and roundabouts for both buyers and sellers.

Loss-making businesses received some fiscal help allowing them to reclaim taxes paid on profits in the past three years. This only lasts until November 2010, however and the expected average benefit is not huge - £4,000.

Comment on Mr Darling's budget has varied from the standard kick that all Chancellors expect, through "what could he do?" to "a mixed bag".

The biggest concern is that the predictions look - still look - very optimistic. More honesty about where the public finances are likely to take us would have been appreciated. All budgets are political as well as fiscal, but this one appears to have intentionally saddled the (likely) incoming Tory Chancellor with a major set of problems.

If the budget does have a £1 billion hole in it - as many commentators have suggested - then there will either be cuts in services or further tax rises to cover the shortfall. We all knew already that this recession was going to be deeply nasty and finding out straight after a budget that the economy had contracted by 1.9% in the first quarter was proof if it were needed.

It is a deep concern that the International Monetary Fund could publish figures within two hours of the Chancellor sitting down which demonstrated that his figures were not only optimistic, but hardly in touch with reality.

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