Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson will all attempt to woo the UK’s business leaders with speeches to the CBI’s annual conference later.
Mr Johnson will vow to end Brexit “uncertainty” and unveil Tory plans to cut business rates if he is returned to power in next month’s general election.
Mr Corbyn will set out Labour’s plans for 320,000 apprenticeships in England.
And Ms Swinson will say the Lib Dems are the “natural party of business” because they want to cancel Brexit.
Mr Johnson is hoping to win a majority on 12 December, get his Brexit deal taking the UK out of the EU into law by 31 January, and begin talks with Brussels on a permanent trading relationship.
The Conservative leader is expected to tell the CBI’s conference: “Big business didn’t want Brexit. You made that clear in 2016 and this body said it louder than any other.
“But what is also clear is that what you want now – and have wanted for some time – is certainty.”
Mr Johnson will announce policies to help businesses “make the most of Brexit”, including a review of business rates in England, with the aim of reducing the overall burden of the tax.
The Conservatives also say they plan a cut in National Insurance contributions for employers, who already benefit from a reduction known as the employment allowance.
They would increase this from £3,000 to £4,000.
They say this would amount to a tax cut of up to £1,000 for more than half a million businesses.
They would also increase the Research and Development tax credit rate from 12% to 13%, which the party says will boost manufacturing and the professional, scientific and technical services sectors.
The party also proposes tax relief for landlords and builders, and higher tax credits for companies that are involved in research.
“With a Conservative majority government you can be sure we will get Brexit done and leave with the new deal that is already agreed – ending the uncertainty and confusion that has paralysed our economy,” Mr Johnson is expected to say.
Business rates are a tax based on rental values of the property that businesses occupy.
They are typically 50.4% of the market rent – but there are lots of complex reductions, while smaller businesses pay a bit less.
Business lobby groups – especially small businesses – often complain about the complex system, and that rates have gone up faster than inflation since the current regime was introduced in 1990.
A recent Parliamentary inquiry found the UK had the highest level of this kind of tax in the OECD group of wealthy nations, more than double the average.
However, it is one of the biggest sources of government revenue, raising £31bn in England in the last financial year.
If the next government were to cut rates back to 1990 levels, it would cost about £10bn, says Jerry Schurder, head of business rates at property consultants Gerald Eve.
Retailers complain that business rates are a factor in the closure of small shops.
But economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have argued that cutting business rates would only give retailers short-term respite, as landlords would then increase rents.
Labour wants to tear up Mr Johnson’s Brexit agreement and negotiate a new deal with Brussels, including a customs union and a closer relationship with the EU single market, which it would then put to a public vote.
Jeremy Corbyn will set out Labour plans to train 80,000 people a year, as part of a “climate apprenticeship” programme, in his speech to the CBI, which is the UK’s largest business lobby group.
“Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution will be a central motor of the party’s plans to transform our country and economy, using public investment to create good, clean jobs, tackle the climate emergency and rebuild held back towns, cities and communities,” he is expected to say.
Labour’s plan would see 320,000 apprentices trained in jobs such as construction, manufacturing and design within renewable energy, transport, sustainable agriculture and forestry, all during its first term in office.
It will be funded by diverting 25% of the funds that employers already set aside through the Apprenticeship Levy and topped up by any dividends over the cap paid into Labour’s Inclusive Ownership Funds – the party’s plan to give workers a 10% stake in their employers.
The party said it also wanted to give employers more choice over how they spend Apprenticeship Levy Funds.
