Chancellor Alistair Darling failed yesterday to deflect anger over planned changes to business taxes despite conceding they are "controversial" and assuring industry leaders he is listening to their concerns.

He told the CBI annual conference in London that he planned to publish his final proposals on changes to the capital gains tax regime in the next three weeks.

The CBI and other business groups have called on the Government not to go ahead with a planned increase in the tax from 10 per cent to 18 per cent, warning it would hit job creation and stop entrepreneurs setting up companies.

Mr Darling said it was important to simplify Britain's tax system.

He told delegates: "I know that my proposals to introduce a single rate of capital gains tax have been controversial. That was inevitable.

"We are working with the CBI and other business organisations to listen to what you have to say. I expect to publish final proposals in the next three weeks."

But that did not satisfy Andy Currie, managing partner of Catalyst Corporate Finance, who was recently voted Midlands Dealmaker of the Year, who accused the Chancellor of "continued dithering" on CGT.

Failure to act now "is hugely damaging to the UK's entrepreneurial economy and has left industry in limbo until the New Year".

Mr Currie went on: "While it was obvious that he would not perform an excruciating political U-turn in front of the CBI, he has exacerbated the problem by ensuring that for the next three weeks entrepreneurs can only speculate as to what the future implications of CGT will be come April.

"We applaud the Chancellor for his decision to consult the CBI and entrepreneurs more widely, but fear it is too little too late. He should take decisive action on CGT now, not hide his potentially bad news for business in the Christmas rush.

"The bottom line, which more people now accept, is that Darling and his advisers have used a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but have then missed the nut altogether.

"Since October, I have had more conversations with entrepreneurs about moving offshore than I've had in the past eight years. How is that going to help Britain's economy?

"The Treasury has to act now to stop the flood of short-termist deals between now and April and all the unintended effects of this - including the flow of cheaply priced assets falling into private equity hands - and to allow entrepreneurs to get back to sensible long-term planning for their businesses."

CBI president Martin Broughton said the group was expecting Mr Darling to come forward with "something much more acceptable" in three weeks' time.

It would be "unhelpful" to the CBI's relationship with the Government if expectations were not met.

Director-general Richard Lambert said the Chancellor would hear "a cry of rage" from businesses around the land if he didn't back down on CGT.

Mr Darling said it was right to make the tax system more straightforward and sustainable and pointed out that Britain has 800,000 more businesses than a decade ago.

"I am determined to do everything I can to keep it that way and keep Britain as a good place to do business," he said. "In the run-up to the Budget, I want to continue to work with the CBI and other business organisations to ensure that encouraging enterprise remains at the heart of this approach."

The Chancellor went on to paint an upbeat picture of the British economy, saying the country had highly successful, competitive businesses and had seen over a decade of uninterrupted growth.

He conceded that economic growth would slow next year but he maintained there were "huge opportunities" for British industry.

He said he was confident of the resilience of the UK economy despite record oil prices and the turbulence in financial markets.