Findlay Anderson, head of corporate at full-service law firm Gilson Gray

It feels like we’ve been talking about the Budget for weeks. That’s an annual rite of passage if you’re an accountant or tax advisor. But it has seemed like the whole country has been bracing itself for this Budget, and rightly so. Rachel Reeves yesterday promised to deliver the biggest public borrowing and biggest tax rises in years – £40 billion – with a promise of significantly increased public spending in return.

Key beneficiaries of the increased spending are education, defence, and the NHS. All are arguably welcome. But if you’re in business, this is almost certainly not a welcome budget!

National Insurance has rightly been in the news headlines over the last few days. Rachel Reeves finally confirmed that employers’ contributions will increase to 15% from April 2025 and the threshold at which employers start paying national insurance will fall from £9,100 to £5,000 a year. The Government believes these changes will raise an additional £25 billion per year.

When added to the increase in the National Minimum and Living Wage, this all adds up to a significant impact on businesses who will need to determine how much of the added cost can be passed onto customers. Many will also look internally and consider whether the likes of headcount reductions and pay freezes will be required to offset the additional cost burden.

There will be some mild comfort for businesses from the increase in employment allowance – from £5,000 to £10,500 – which will see some employers paying less National Insurance whilst others won’t pay any at all next year. Elsewhere the changes to business rates for those in the retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will be a welcome and long-awaited relief.

More generally, corporate taxation did not see much change and many businesses will find some relief here. However, that cannot be said for the oil & gas industry, on which we still rely for significant amounts of our national fuel, energy and power. The sector will feel that their pleas for common sense around the “profits tax”, and certain key reliefs and allowances have fallen on deaf ears. We assume there will be a host of consequential announcements over the coming weeks and months as the sector absorbs these multifaceted impacts.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has said that the tax rises will weaken Britain’s long-term growth. The Government must now quickly get on the front foot and show where it is going to support industry to keep investing in critical UK growth before it thinks twice, or even worse, takes its investments elsewhere.