Ruth Ross, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is not what you would describe as a business-friendly budget – but it seems that many Shropshire companies were expecting it to be worse.
“The Chancellor has listened to the business community’s calls and made the right choice by not piling major new tax rises on businesses’ shoulders, which will go some way to calming nerves.
“Businesses will also welcome support for youth employment, stamp duty relief, protection for capital spending, a reduction in business rates multipliers and some investment tax breaks.
“They will be worried, however, about salary sacrifice changes, mandatory wage increases, and retention of the energy profits levy, which will maintain cost pressures.
“Alongside this, we have seen UK-wide business support funding of almost £1bn axed and replaced with a system of piecemeal support which favours select urban regions. That risks further regional inequality and damage to rural economies such as Shropshire."
She added: “The Chancellor’s confirmation of a minimum wage rise is probably going to be the biggest worry. Making employment more expensive for business owners risks deepening the jobs crisis, particularly among young people.
“And if the Chancellor wants a sure-fire way to back growth, the answer is to deliver on infrastructure investment across the UK. There was very little in today’s speech to suggest that significant support for more rural areas such as Shropshire will be at the forefront of their minds.
“Businesses taking part in our quarterly economic surveys have been calling for a long time for a major reform of business rates. There was some tinkering announced today, but nothing which appears to explain how traders in our market towns can compete on a level playing field with big online rivals.”
Shropshire’s current company of the year, civil engineering and construction contractor McPhillips, said the budget fell short of the mark.
Director Stuart MacKenzie warned businesses had faced a nervous wait ahead of the announcement with leaked details and U-turns leading to a sharp decline in construction activity UK-wide.
He said: “Confidence across the sector has been knocked with so much speculation and unfortunately today’s announcements have not gone far enough to restore the stability we needed.
“The construction industry is impacted by almost every part of the economy so any measures which cause taxes to rise takes money out of the economy, puts pressure on businesses and will continue to stall growth.
“Changes to salary sacrifice and minimum wage rises on top of the already hefty National Insurance hike will cause a mammoth administrative headache for businesses and will bring additional costs at a time when they want to be focused on investing in skills, sustainability and CSR initiatives.
“We understand the Chancellor has faced some tough decisions to protect the NHS and curb the Government’s debts and we’re encouraged she made reference to speeding up the planning system but what we really need now is action.
“For too long we’ve heard plenty of promises on infrastructure investment and planning reforms. If we want to see growth in the economy and deliver on projects that will benefit and boost our communities then we need action that translates into a visible pipeline of work.
“The only good news we can take from today is the Chancellor’s commitment to skills and new measures on apprenticeships. As a company committed to training the next generation and a very successful apprenticeship scheme this will enable us to boost skills and training in-house.”
Helen Columb, owner of Telford-based Turas Accountants, says the freezing of income tax thresholds, increase to basic and higher rates of tax for property, dividends and savings income and above inflation rise to the National Minimum Wage, were all significant new developments.
“We are now paying the highest levels of tax in this country that we have ever seen, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
“The decision to freeze the tax thresholds for a further three years will mean many more people paying higher taxes, whilst the introduction of a £2,000 limit on salary sacrifice schemes before National Insurance is paid will impact long-term saving.
“And the fact that basic and higher rates of tax is increasing for property, dividends and savings income – all going up by 2% - is another significant move.
“For sole traders and landlords, it is now clear that the new Making Tax Digital Regime will definitely come into effect in April 2026.
“I’d strongly advise anyone who thinks they may be affected to seek professional advice to ensure that their finances work as efficiently as possible for them.”
Claire Brook, Employment Law Partner at Shrewsbury law firm Aaron & Partners, said:“This Budget gives employers plenty to absorb. The National Minimum/Living Wage rise from April 2026 is the most immediate cost driver, lifting baseline payroll spend and likely feeding pay-compression pressures.
"Employers will also be watching the new £2,000 cap on pension salary-sacrifice: from April 2029, contributions above that level will attract NI, reducing the efficiency of sacrifice schemes and creating a significant piece of work for HR and payroll teams to remodel benefits and communicate changes clearly to staff.
“All of this lands alongside the Employment Rights Bill, the largest workplace-law shift in a generation. There's been plenty of speculation about what may be implemented but its direction of travel, including stronger day-one rights, tighter rules on insecure work, expanded sick pay and family protections, and higher hurdles around dismissal and contractual change, points to a significant and potentially costly implementation programme for HR teams.
"Early planning around contracts, probation and performance, rostering, absence and consultation will be key to managing this. Employers should use this time to review and audit their practices and seek advice to plan for this change."
Many businesses gathered today at the Orbit in Wellington to watch the Budget speech streamed on the big screen. They then delivered their initial thoughts.
Stuart Phillips, who runs The Hundred House at Norton, said increasing the minimum wage for the hospitality industry was a mistake, making employers more reluctant to offer ‘first step on the ladder’.
“Business rates went up for us last year, national insurance went up for us last year, and now the minimum wage is going up again.”
Emma Perks, owner of Spinning Around Records in Wellington, wanted to know more about business rate relief. “It’s not very clear if we will get our 75% discount back again. Making sure online businesses can’t under cut us is OK to say, but how can she make that happen? That wasn’t really explained.”
Jeevan Punj of Elite Hampers said it was nice to hear the Chancellor investing £13 billion into skills and business support, and free training for apprentices under 25 for small businesses.
But she added: “My initial concern is minimum wage and workforce costs. We need help with this – we want to take on people, we want to grow, we want premises, but it’s hard to absorb that costs.”
Anton Gunter, managing director of Global Freight Services in Telford, welcomed moves on import duties to help create what he said should hopefully be a more even playing field between local UK products and imports from places like China.
Martin Monaghan, owner of The Buttermarket in Shrewsbury, said: “I thought she did a pretty good job. I was expecting a lot worse. The one thing I wanted to see for towns and villages in Shropshire was business rate relief – a lot of businesses in hospitality and retail are on the edge, and that will be welcome. Businesses were hit with a lot last year, I felt this was much more neutral. On the whole I was quite pleased."
Elsewhere, Steve Hitchiner, chair of the Tax Group at the Society of Pensions Professionals said; “Restricting salary sacrifice for pensions will affect the take home pay of millions of employees – especially basic rate taxpayers – and is a tax on working people, in spirit if not in name.
“It is also another sizeable cost to employers and, perhaps most importantly its restriction will reduce pension saving.”
Building societies reacted with disappointment at the plans to restrict the amount of cash to be invested into an ISA to £12,000.
It has been described as a ‘sucker punch for savers and deeply disappointing for lenders’. Societies said they support the Government’s aim to boost an investing culture in the UK, but claimed restricting choice is not the way to do it.
Aviation manufacturer Aviramp said today’s Budget would do little to kickstart the nation’s faltering economy. Graham Corfield, chief executive of the Telford-based company whose step-free boarding ramps are in use at more than 900 airports around the world, said the Chancellor had not taken the action needed to drive business growth.
“By raising taxes the Chancellor is taking more money out of the economy. You cannot tax your way to growth however much you try to disguise new measures to raise revenue,” Graham said.
“The only way to get our economy firing on all cylinders again is to give the business community the freedom to start creating wealth and the confidence to invest in the future.
“That means stripping away the red tape and bureaucracy which stifles innovation, creating the conditions where business can invest with confidence knowing we won’t be taxed just for being successful and investing in skills and training so we can really seize the digital future.
“It also means being clear and consistent in policy making. Not changing direction every other week or choosing policies simply because they will do the least political damage or find favour among newspaper and TV editors.
“Not surprisingly, I didn’t hear enough of any of these things in today’s speech which will do little to inspire businesses or kickstart the economy.”
Kirsty Smallman, managing director of J&PR Ltd, a PR and content creation agency based in Wellington which works with many small businesses across Shropshire, said: "The increase in minimum wage across the board is a blow to all businesses, especially small businesses.
“The increase, over 8% increase in one age category, will inevitably push prices up, whilst also creating a demand for increased salaries for all employees.
"The increased salaries will no doubt force some small business owners to make redundancies or even to close their doors at a time when they have fought so hard to stay open.
"Surely our unemployment rate is high enough, but it seems the Government is doing everything they can to increase that rate further.
"As a business we have just recruited another apprentice and also a member of staff who is still at university. We are offering much needed training and a platform which allows them to start their marketing careers but for that - investing in the future workforce - business owners are being penalised at every stage.
"The Government desperately needs employers to support apprenticeships. Without the employers the scheme can't exist, but yet the Government is making it harder to do.
"Shropshire business owners are working so hard to keep the talent here in the county but increases like these just make it more difficult."
The UK’s last remaining producer of flat rolled aluminium coils had called for ‘certainty’, urgent help to mitigate rising energy prices and immediate industrial support from the Chancellor.
Bridgnorth Aluminium, which employs over 300 people, said the metals and manufacturing sectors needed to avoid a repeat of the tax rises seen in last year’s Autumn Statement.
Commercial director Adrian Musgrave said: “Manufacturers don’t want hand-outs, we just want a level playing field to compete with our international rivals and that means the government resisting the urge to increase the already difficult tax burdens we face.
“The UK has the highest energy bills in the G7 and, to put this into perspective, each month we pay over £1m for our electricity and gas. There is help available through the Energy Intensive Industries scheme and we take advantage of that, but we need the promised additional support of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to come faster.
“Aluminium must be recognised as a key foundation material for advanced manufacturing, including applications such as AI data centres and green power generation.”
He added: “Skills is another major issue for our sector, and we would welcome any changes to courses that accelerate the ability for young people to learn greater technical skills – making them work ready in the process.”
Engineering firm Transicon said today’s budget was disappointing and lacked tangible support for manufacturers in the wake of the Industrial Strategy.
Jennifer Hughes, general manager of the Telford-based firm which works with major manufacturers such as BMW, Tata Steel and Muller Dairy, welcomed support with energy costs and access to finance but warned the measures were not enough to restore confidence and growth across the sector.
She said: “The cumulative impact of increased National Insurance contributions, uplift in National Minimum Wage and Corporation Tax is already squeezing margins for many businesses and the additional tax rises and minimum wage rises announced today will take more money out of the economy and lump further pressure on businesses.
“We’re disappointed that there was no real recognition of the burden that industry is facing and the impact this is having on the sector’s ability to invest in skills, innovation, AI, cybersecurity and technology.
“With the launch of the Industrial Strategy earlier this year, we’d been hopeful that this budget might deliver more in terms of funding for manufacturers particularly SMEs like ourselves.
“We’d also been keen to see a reversal to the SME R&D tax relief which is crucial if we want to encourage small firms across the industry to push boundaries and invest in new solutions."
Amy Bould, managing director of PR and marketing specialist Be Bold Media, said: "The Government can't even manage to announce its own Budget without it being leaked first - and they wonder why business confidence is shot to pieces.
"This Budget shows the Chancellor still thinks you can tax your way to growth. Yes, business rates relief is welcome but it's overshadowed by yet another hammer blow to the cost of running a business, with inflation-busting wage cost increases. And in a couple of years they’re coming for our pension schemes too. You couldn’t make it up.
"Rachel Reeves spoke today about supporting working people but she’s making it systematically harder for the people who actually employ them.
“She’s also opened up a huge postcode lottery for businesses which want to drive growth. It was good to see a commitment to a number of ‘growth funds’ for mayoral areas such as the West Midlands, that’s great for businesses based there. But if you’re a business operating in Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin, where’s the investment for them?
"We needed clarity and support. Instead we got a Budget leaked an hour early that shows this Government still doesn't have a clue how to work with business rather than against it."
Tim Lloyd, owner of CQS Solutions which has bases in Birmingham, Shropshire and Mid Wales, said the sector was increasingly frustrated at the Government’s failure to fund the construction projects it had already promised.
“The Government was elected on the back of promises to build 1.5million new homes and fund major new infrastructure projects.
“But we have yet to see many signs of those promises being delivered or of very many new public sector tenders coming through.
“This Budget could have been an opportunity to change that, but I fear that opportunity has been missed.
“I wanted to see real action to make it more affordable to employ new people, to develop the skills and training we urgently need and to create the economic conditions which would drive growth.
“I certainly didn’t hear enough to make me think things will change dramatically in the next 12 months and that was disappointing.
“The mansion tax is likely to subdue activity in the housing market and the range of new wealth taxes will undoubtedly act as a disincentive to success.
“The endless speculation about what taxes she would – or would not – increase, the U-turns and the Government infighting have all led to the economic paralysis we have seen in recent months.
“Much the same thing happened ahead of the Chancellor’s first Budget last year and I would hope that important lessons have now been learned and we get no repeat in 2026.”
“But the minimum wage rise to £12.71 per hour represents a £975 annual increase for a full-time minimum wage worker - a significant cost for small employers. Combined with the upcoming Employment Rights Bill changes, small businesses face mounting employment costs and compliance burdens.
"The salary sacrifice pension changes, whilst not taking effect until April 2029, will remove a valuable tool for small businesses to offer competitive benefits. The £2,000 threshold provides some protection, but many businesses use these schemes to attract talent without the overhead costs larger employers can absorb.”
Joe Collison, managing director of electrical contractor CES, said:"The new mileage-based charge on electric vehicles from April 2028 was inevitable as fuel duty revenues dry up. At around half the petrol rate, it's a reasonable starting point that won't derail most business electrification plans.
"But I'm concerned about potential rate creep before 2028. As electric vehicle sales surge and fuel duty continues falling, the Treasury will face mounting pressure to increase this rate or bring it forward. That uncertainty makes fleet planning harder for small businesses.
"The Chancellor says this measure will raise £1.4 billion and this shows just how quickly the electric transition is happening. For businesses still on the fence about going electric, they've got until April 2028 to prepare - but I wouldn't expect this rate to stay static forever.
"If electric vehicles make business sense now, this modest additional charge shouldn't change that. But businesses need to factor it into planning and not assume the government won't be tempted to tinker with the rate as adoption accelerates."
And Alasdair Hobbs, managing director of Human Results in Telford, has been an employment lawyer for 35 years and said minimum wage increases would be yet another hit for employers.
He said: “So many clients I speak to are actually very busy, and should be doing quite well, but there’s no margin for growth.
“Any minimum wage hikes announced in the budget, especially for the 18 to 20-year-old age bracket, coupled with the pending Employment Rights Bill and last year’s National Insurance increases, will have a major impact on employers.
“The real issue isn't any single measure - it's the cumulative burden. Employers are being hit from multiple directions simultaneously, making it harder to invest in growth, training, or new hires.”
Businesses respond to Sunak's wide-ranging update
Accountant warns changes come into force next month