It’s that time of the year again, when George Osborne unveils his latest batch of economy boosting ingredients.
It seems like only yesterday that the chancellor was reading out the Autumn Statement to the House of Commons.
A quick glance back to December and you might remember a few nuggets for entrepreneurs and business leaders: reduced rise in business rates and extension to rate relief, abolition of NI for those under 21, extenuation to the StartUp Loan scheme and an extra £40 million for higher apprenticeships.
However, this next Budget speech, on 19 March, represents the last March address that will have any real significance before the next general election.
Throughout the current government’s tenure, and George Osborne’s role as chancellor, we have seen a marked move towards a more business-centric approach.
This administration has introduced and extended EIS and SEIS, dropped corporation tax to a historic low and introduced the National Loan Guarantee Scheme.
Previous Budgets:
- Budget 2013: Kay points for entrepreneurs and business builders
- Budget 2012: Impact on British businesses
- Budget 2011: ‘Mixed bag’ on support for growth businesses
The government has realised that the business, and growth company, world will be leading the charge to recovery and has begun to provide the kind of ammunition required.
But there are still a number of things I’m hearing from business builders that they’d like to see happen. Making it easier to take on new staff, reducing the amount of unnecessary red tape and further incentivising investors to back their businesses are some of the most prominent.
Next week we’ll be providing our annual examination of what readers would like to see come out of Osborne’s briefcase. In the mean time, we’d like to hear from you. Whether it’s positive or negative, let me know what you think of Osborne’s previous speeches and the new policy you’d pick to be introduced.
If there’s one thing this government has been good at it’s speaking with entrepreneurs and accepting feedback when it comes.
