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Be heard before, during and after the Budget

ended 31. October 2024

It's going to be a ridiculously busy news week this week and next as businesses in all sectors digest the impact of tomorrow's Budget. If you'd like the chance to share your views with the local, national and trade media on the countless News Alerts Newspage will be generating, use the discount code — BUDGET2024 — to get 50% off our Platinum subscription for the next month. As a Platinum Newspager, you'll get unlimited News Alert responses and your responses will be edited and proofed by an experienced journalist. As ever, you can downgrade at any time. This year, we intend to get more small and micro business owners into the news than any previous Budget, so if you'd like to see your views shared, give it a whirl.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Kelsey Phillips
Head of Specialist Lending at Arose Finance
Increasing the National Living Wage could support upward pressure on mortgage interest rates. This measure increases the real disposable income of those that need it the most and contributes to a 93.5% aggregate increase in the minimum wage over the last decade (which was £6.31 in 2014). Generally speaking, the lowest earners have the highest marginal propensity to consume and therefore the 6.7% increase in wages for over-21s should, if economic theory holds, shortly be recirculated into the economy via induced purchase of goods and services. Assuming supply remains equal, increased demands for goods and services could contribute to demand-push inflation which will be reflected in interest rate expectations and overnight index swap curves upon which mortgage rates are derived.
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Keith Budden
Managing Director at Ensurety
My thoughts on the budget are that as a small business owner it was not as painful as it was predicted to be. Yes we have the changes to the National Insurance threshold and the rate of Employer's NIC which are going to have a significant effect on those businesses who have a largely part time workforce (who will of course also be hit by the increase to the living wage), and changes to Capital Gains Tax which were largely predicted. On the plus side though, no change to Corporation Tax, no change to Business Rates and no change to Inheritance Tax.

I always think rises to the living wage are to be welcomed, surely we all want our employees to earn more? Will the change to National Insurance affect recruitment? Possibly, but I think it will be only a short term impact if it does.

So overall response, rather like a wasp sting, it's painful on day one but by day three it will just be a minor irritation and everyone will wonder what you're making a fuss about.