With ASKAR SHEIBANI, CEO of Comtek Network Systems UK Ltd & chair of DBF

The Chancellor has a unique opportunity next week to be creative and overhaul the UK's old and bureaucratic tax system.

A well-designed tax regime can be a major support for the nation's economic wellbeing and employment prospects.

Rishi Sunak has got to recognise that the only way the UK can have a sustainable, robust and long-term resilient economy, is to concentrate his focus on growing the UK's manufacturing sector.

Manufacturing relies on innovation, capital and the availability of plenty of high-skilled workers. I therefore urge our Members of Parliament to encourage the chancellor to make his post-Brexit budget a manufacturing growth budget.

The Chancellor has an amazing opportunity to use his budget to announce to the world that the UK is entering the race to become one of the world's leading manufacturing nations.

Growth in manufacturing will boost the backbone and foundation of the UK's economy, especially in North East Wales.

The Chancellor must show real courage and embark on the following reforms:

1. Abolish the most unpopular and unfair tax, Business Rates.

2. Financial support to our further education colleges and businesses to collaborate to upskill our young people through an ambitious manufacturing-based apprenticeship program.

3. Increase the budget to 'innovate UK' organisation to support our indigenous small creative businesses.

4. Financial support to our universities, if they allow their facilities and research to be utilised by the UK's home-grown small businesses.

5. Financial and tax support to encourage the UK's small firms to export.

6. Follow the French government and impose a Digital Services Tax on giant organisations such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, eBay, etc.

7. Double the taxation on people or organisations using offshore tax havens such as the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, etc. These organisations or individuals have located to these regions purely in order to avoid paying tax, thus increasing the burden on UK citizens and other UK businesses. This is very unfair, and the Chancellor has to fix it.

8. Follow Germany and extend the flexible furlough until the end of the year.

9. Abolish employers' National Insurance Contribution (NIC) tax. This is a tax on job creation and is very unpopular.

10. Heavy taxation on the environment polluters.

11. Incentify and encourage the Circular Economy and renewal-energy.

12. Tax incentives to investors in our homegrown businesses such as Business Angels and Venture Capital firms.

13. Extend the number of Freeports in the UK.

This is a unique opportunity for the Chancellor to make history and come up with a creative, simple, fair but radical tax regime for the UK.

Let's be a world leader in creating a modern taxation system which is actually fit for purpose.