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Are you more confident or less confident following the Budget?

ended 15. November 2024

Tomorrow morning at 07:00, we'll be getting the latest official snapshot of the UK economy - Q3 GDP. A few questions for an article we're putting together to issue when the data drops:

Do you feel the current Government understands (small) business?

Are you feeling more confident about 2025, or less confident, following the Budget?

What are your key concerns as a business owner currently?

 

 

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
This government is economically illiterate with zero understanding of the private sector. They view business as the enemy, seeking to extract maximum resources to fund their pet projects. The recent Budget has torpedoed the UK economy, and I’m confident things will only worsen heading into 2025. However, I suspect alienating farmers, pensioners, and landlords amongst many others will backfire, and with Trump in the White House, Starmer and his team may have their wings clipped. My main concerns are rising unemployment, businesses cutting back, and an exodus of talent from the UK. I foresee the government’s approach leading to disaster, potentially forcing Rachel Thieves to turn to the IMF, as Healey did in 1976. On a positive note, my business as a currency exchange broker could benefit if people’s plans to emigrate gain momentum.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
The Labour Budget has certainly created ructions around the country. I am fearful that they either have no idea about, or just don't want, small businesses, which could be disastrous for the economy as the budget fallout continues. The financial impact is far greater on SMEs than the larger businesses who are more set up to absorb financial shocks. According to the FSB, at the start of 2023 there were 5.6 million small businesses, with 0-49 employees, equating to 99.2% of the total business population. They also account for 99.9% of the business population with 5.6 million businesses. Three-fifths of the employment and around half of turnover in the UK private sector are from SME's with employment at 16.7 million, 61% of the total, and turnover estimated at £2.4 trillion (53%). Employment in small businesses was 13.1 million, 48% of the total, and a turnover of £1.6 trillion, 36%. These figures just can't be ignored.
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Debbie Porter
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
Small businesses have been lying back and thinking of England for years now. Each government thinks of taxation on a macroeconomics level failing to understand the contribution 5.5million small businesses make to the economy and the populations workforce. From the austerity years under Cameron and Osborne, to successive taxations to fund the NHS, firstly after Covid and now again under Starmer. Businesses already have to take on health and social care through employment law constricts, mental health first aiding and mandatory employee pensions to fund future retirees. Yet with recent NI additional increases that pay for current State Pension recipients, we’re repeatedly being asked to take more and more on the chin. Post-Brexit we’re constantly teetering on the brink of recession. How much more are we expected to have to take?
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Richard O'Connor
Technical Director at First Mats
As a small business owner, I don’t believe the current government truly understands small businesses. Our company has grown well this year, but my confidence about 2025 has dropped since the Budget. The rise in National Insurance and tax threshold changes could slow our hiring plans, which we need to keep up with demand.

What worries me most is that there’s hardly anyone in government with experience in starting or running a business, and it shows in their policies. These changes don’t account for the realities of our challenges—tight margins, rising costs, and the need to sustain growth. Small businesses are essential to the economy and local communities, yet we’re often overlooked.

To build a strong, resilient economy, we need policies that reflect the experiences of small business owners, who are driving growth and creating jobs, and bigger tax burdens don't achieve that. Right now, it’s clear there’s a gap in understanding that needs to be addressed.
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John Skinner
Director at TopDog Harnesses
I often think that when small businesses say they are not understood, they generally mean 'don't tax us'. But looking at the new National Insurance rate, I do think it could be applied more progressively, especially by offering extra protection to certain vulnerable sectors. My confidence in the economy hasn’t really shifted, but I will say it’s good to see a government which is at least prepared to tackle difficult issues. Still, I’ve got my concerns: in the short term, persistent low growth is likely to keep demand suppressed, and in the longer term, potential US tariffs could cause serious disruption.