Positive-ish reaction from small business and startup community to UK Chancellor’s Corona budget

by Startacus Admin

New Chancellor Rishi Sunak just delivered his first UK Budget. Seeing as he had only just settled into the job and coronavirus cases in UK continue to sadly rise, the feedback from the startup and small business community is, on first glance, pretty positive.

Brexit + coronavirus is a pretty tough set of circumstances that the new Chancellor had to juggle with after all. 

Anne Kiem, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter and CEO of Chartered Association of Business Schools said: 

Small businesses are going to be front line for the economic shock brought by Coronavirus; whether it is a reduction in demand, supply-chain struggles or challenges with last minute staffing shortages and paying sick leave. Employing over 16m people, small businesses are the at the heart of the UK economy.

So it is quite right that the Budget has included a huge focus on them. The measures announced in the Chancellor’s ‘Corona’ budget include an unprecedented package of short term measures to support small businesses during 2020. From a sick-pay rebate, to the discount on business rates, to access to cheap loans, each of these measures in their own right might not necessarily move the needle, but the Chancellor has thrown the kitchen sink at the problem! 

This is a very significant start which should give hope to small businesses facing this crisis. Small businesses will come through this, but times will undoubtedly be tough for the foreseeable future. The consequences of this will likely extend beyond the current situation as the impacts cascade around the global economy and has a knock-on effect on confidence.

The potential issue coming down the track is that this will affect wider-sectors outside of retail, leisure and travel, and small businesses will be impacted by the knock-on effect to medium size businesses. The Infrastructure spending bonanza is clearly a deliberate attempt to plug the challenges that we will see in some sectors of the economy, through pushing demand in infrastructure and construction. Let’s hope this is enough. The Chancellor made clear he is prepared to revisit these actions and we can foresee that there may be further sectors of the economy that require further support.”

In this tweet, Emma Jones, Founder of small business community Enterprise Nation, was also pretty positive, but with an added caveat asking who / where the generous spending would come from, or perhaps more directly, paid by.

However, from a growth business and investment perspective, The Enterprise Investment Scheme Association, which leads on driving the agenda for attracting private investment into growing businesses voiced concern at the Chancellor's budget announcements restricting the benefits of Entrepreneurs Relief.

Director General, Mark Brownridge commented,

'At this very time of economic uncertainty we should be doing all we can to encourage those with the financial capacity to invest in new and growing businesses to do exactly that. Whether or not some may view the tax reliefs available to risk taking and hard working entrepreneurs as attractive, without them we are likely to see a much poorer entrepreneurial spirit in the UK which the Chancellor may live to regret"

 

 

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Published on: 11th March 2020