Chancellor’s £600 million AI plan "won't go very far" with small businesses

We're a relatively small financial planning firm, but we're already seeing real benefits from AI.

For example, compliance reviews that previously took a day or two can now be completed in a couple of hours. AI does much of the analysis and drafting, leaving our staff to apply their professional judgement.

We've also saved days developing and reviewing internal systems. Elsewhere, AI helps us produce more detailed meeting notes and clearer, more personalised client reports. That's not necessarily about saving time, but doing a better job for clients.

£30m sounds a lot, but spread across the UK's small businesses it won't go very far. I'd rather see practical help for firms to understand how they can use AI than money spent on consultants telling them how wonderful it is.

The risk is ignoring AI completely or expecting it to be perfect. It's incredibly useful, but you still need to supervise it. Like a human employee, AI does make mistakes.

AI has allowed us to represent our SME clients far better, by giving our team the knowledge of clients' businesses that previously only internal employees would have had. By creating a knowledge base for each client, we are able to draw on their website content plus all their reports, webinars and podcast episodes. That means every LinkedIn post, newsletter or blog is infused with far more of the client's expertise.

The thinking is positive, but £30m for local AI partnerships is a drop in the ocean - roughly a fiver for each of the UK’s 5.5m businesses - and risks being swallowed by administration and consultants. SMEs are a footnote in a package mostly about security and backing AI developers.

My Budget ask would be a simple AI adoption voucher for approved tools and hands on training.

In wealth management, AI can summarise research, draft communications and trim admin, freeing time for clients. Checking its work remains essential.

One mistake owners might make is starting with the technology rather than the problem. Pick one repetitive task, measure it, then test whether AI improves it. Automating a poor process just helps you do the wrong thing faster.

Small businesses need practical help applying AI to their work. £30m could make a difference if it pays for hands-on support, but the test is how many firms actually benefit and what improves afterwards.

At Bridging Loan Directory, I use AI to help organise research, analyse spreadsheets and work through drafts. I haven’t measured a reliable cash saving. Checking sources, correcting mistakes and deciding what is worth publishing still take time.

The biggest mistake is assuming a confident answer is a correct one. Another is buying tools before deciding what problem you want to solve.

My Budget request would be simple: accessible, independent support to help a small business improve one recurring task, learn how to check the output and measure the result.

Include businesses outside the main city regions too. A small firm’s access to useful support shouldn’t depend on its postcode.

The Chancellor is talking about an AI revolution but funding it with loose change. The ambition is welcome, but £600m is peanuts given the scale of the opportunity, and the £30m earmarked for local AI adoption is frankly pathetic.

AI could be one of the biggest drivers of British productivity and economic growth in a generation. Yet we're treating it like a modest government pilot scheme rather than a national economic priority.

Britain needs to dramatically accelerate both the growth of its AI industry and adoption across millions of smaller businesses. That means meaningful investment, practical training and tax incentives that encourage firms to embrace the technology.

We cannot afford to admire the AI revolution from the sidelines while other economies race ahead. The Chancellor has identified the right destination, but he's barely put enough fuel in the tank to leave the driveway.

Is £30m enough? Do the maths. Split across more than five million small firms, it's about a fiver each. That won't buy a decent coffee in Southampton. So no, SMEs aren't well represented. Out of £600m, small businesses got roughly 5p in every pound, routed through mayors' offices most owners have never dealt with. They funded the AI. They forgot the people using it. My clients already use AI. One office manager cut her weekly rota and policy admin from a full day to a morning. Not a lab breakthrough. Just someone getting home on time. Where owners go wrong? They buy the tool, skip the training, then point it at people decisions. Point AI at the process, not the people. A tool nobody's trained on is a gym membership nobody uses.

Britain seems determined to become a global AI powerhouse while forgetting that millions of small businesses are still trying to work out how to use it.

£30 million for local AI adoption isn't ambition. It's a starting point dressed up as a strategy.

I run businesses where AI is already helping with research, content, processes and reducing repetitive administrative work. The opportunity isn't theoretical. But the biggest mistake businesses make is buying AI subscriptions before identifying what actually needs improving.

My challenge to the Chancellor is simple: introduce an SME AI adoption tax credit covering implementation, integration and staff training.

We don't need another government-funded conference explaining that AI is the future. We need practical support helping businesses make it part of their present.

Britain won't become an AI leader simply by funding companies that build the technology. It must also empower the businesses expected to use it.