Responding to Mr Johnson's conference speech, Federation of Small Businesses national chair Mike Cherry said that the prime minister's vision did not "match the current lived realities of small businesses and sole traders".
Small firms who face supply chain disruptions, staff shortages and business taxes, Mr Cherry said, had been hoping to hear a "practical, clear action plan" from the government, but "been left wanting". "The economic recovery is on shaky ground and if it stalls then the private sector investment and tax revenues that the prime minister wants to fuel his vision will be in short supply."
Tony Danker, the head of the CBI business lobby group, said that while the prime minister set out a "compelling vision" for the country's economic future, "ambition" on wages "without action on investment and productivity is ultimately just a pathway for higher prices".