The Government must stop navel-gazing and get moving The first depends on the Government delivering on those measures it has repeated again and again: improving access to finance, creating robust infrastructure such as energy and transport networks, cutting red tape, and making it easier for firms to take on staff. Reforms to planning rules promised in Westminster must make it out to the real world so businesses can expand their premises. We know that reducing the deficit is crucial to sustaining a recovery, but prioritising some of these measures will free up business to grow. If the Government makes good on these promises and improves the environment in which companies operate, it can create confidence among our businesses and growth will follow. If it chooses not to listen, the economy will continue to bump along the bottom rather than return to growth. In the meantime, businesses are busting a gut in an uncertain environment. And they will have to continue to do so. The economy has been on a roller-coaster ride over the past few years. But that hasn't deterred many firms from finding new markets to export to, hiring a new member of staff, or taking a new product to market. Businesses now have to accept uncertainty will remain for some time. By acknowledging that, the economy is likely to continue to fluctuate over the coming year and by understanding the implications of this, businesses can be confident and thrive regardless. Instead of worrying about changeable economic conditions, we need to see even more businesses accept uncertainty as the new norm, and with this knowledge, be confident to invest, grow and create more jobs. Businesses need a government that will facilitate growth and address market failures where they exist. If the Government wants businesses to invest and grow at a time of global uncertainty, it needs to generate stability and create a better business environment at home by setting business free to deliver growth. Ministers must now work together with the private sector to create the right environment over the long term. The Government must stop dithering and act on the promises it has made, so we'll be able to prove once and for all that bold businesses can get us out of a recession and put us on the road to recovery. John Longworth, is the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.