Thu, 27 Nov 2025

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 Simon Jack: Businesses left asking - what happened to growth?

Significant pro-business measures were thin on the ground in this year's Budget.

* The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) found that none of the measures in the government's budget will change its growth forecast for the next five years.
* Despite upgrading its growth forecast for this year, the OBR downgraded forecasts for every year after 2023 until 2030.
* Business leaders are questioning where the growth is coming from, given that genuinely significant pro-business measures were thin on the ground.
* High Street retailers and hospitality firms will see their business rates increase due to higher costs of doing business.
* An 8.5% pay rise for young workers may put employers off taking on new people.
* The cap on salary sacrifice arrangements could hurt both workers and businesses.
* Expanding schemes that give tax breaks for investors in young companies was a little-noticed measure that could be important.
* A Treasury spokesperson said the economy is "already outperforming forecasts" and driving growth with new capital spending, private investment, and planning reforms.
* The Budget is seen as an improvement on last year's due to more wiggle room in tax and spending plans, which can help stability and growth.
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