Autumn Budget 2025: What Changed and What Businesses Need to Know

The Autumn Budget has finally landed, and while it didn’t come with the drama some were expecting, it did quietly reshape the financial landscape for small businesses heading into 2026.

If you read our predictions in October, you’ll recognise a few familiar themes: business rates tightening, VAT thresholds shifting, but the Budget also came with a couple of surprises that are worth paying attention to. Here’s a straightforward breakdown of the key announcements and the impact they may have on small businesses.

The Mood of the Autumn Budget: Stability With a Side of Caution

If last year’s fiscal updates felt like constant firefighting, this year’s Budget had a different tone: steadying the ship. The Chancellor avoided big tax shake-ups and instead focused on adjusting areas the government says “need realignment.”

Translation: costs are creeping up in predictable places, and support is being nudged away from some sectors and towards others, especially digital adoption and green investment.

Business Rates: The Change Most People Were Bracing For

The headline change, and yes, the one most small businesses were worried about, is now official. The 75% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure will drop to 40% from April 2026.

No sugar-coating needed: this is going to sting for businesses with physical premises. It won’t derail a healthy business, but it will require some forward planning for next year. If your business runs on tight margins, this is the time to revisit your rent-to-revenue ratio and make sure the numbers still make sense.

It’s worth starting the planning now, rather than leaving it until March when things feel more pressured.

A Small Win: The VAT Threshold Is Rising

One of the more positive announcements is the increase of the VAT registration threshold to £100,000 from April 2026.

This is great news for sole traders and small companies who’ve been playing “hover just under £90k” all year. It gives more space to grow, take on higher-value work, and feel less boxed in by admin and compliance.

It doesn’t solve everything, and it certainly won’t fix wider economic pressures, but it is a rare moment where something genuinely gets easier for small businesses. We’ll take it.

VAT rules can be confusing at the best of times, and this change may be a good moment to review where you stand. If you want to talk it through with someone who can simplify it, get in touch, and we’ll point you in the right direction.

Minimum Wage: Higher Costs Are Coming (Again)

The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will rise in April. This wasn’t surprising, but businesses that rely on entry-level or hourly staff will feel it.

Hospitality, care, hair and beauty, retail, these sectors in particular may need to revisit staffing models for spring. Rather than cutting roles, this is a chance to review your rota, pricing and overall workload to ensure the rise in payroll costs is absorbed smoothly.

The businesses that prepare now will glide through April. The ones who don’t… won’t.

Payroll can feel complicated at the best of times, and rate changes never help. If you want a second pair of eyes on your calculations, or someone to take it off your hands entirely, we’re here when you need us.

NI and Corporation Tax: No Big Shifts (Yet)

The government kept things stable here, resisting the urge to make sudden changes. But there were enough hints about future National Insurance reform to make this one of the areas to watch in the Spring Budget.

Nothing to do today, just stay aware that simplification is coming, and it may affect both employers and the self-employed.

Unexpected but Welcome: More Support for Digital and Green Upgrades

One of the quieter (but more exciting) parts of the Budget was the renewed push for digital tools and sustainability. Think tax relief on key software, grants for upgrading equipment, and a refreshed Help to Grow–style scheme with a wider range of eligible tech.

If you’ve been putting off switching to better accounting software, upgrading your POS, automating your workflows, or sorting out that energy-hungry piece of equipment… 2026 might be the smartest (and cheapest) time to do it.

This is the part of the Budget you can actually benefit from, rather than just brace for.

Behind the Scenes: Compliance Is Getting Tighter

A few ongoing consultations finally grew teeth. Expect clearer rules around salary sacrifice, a continued push toward digital reporting, and firmer consequences for businesses that fall behind on compliance.

Salary sacrifice in particular can be confusing, especially when it comes to what’s allowed, what reduces NI, and how it should appear on payroll. If you’d like help making sure your setup is correct, or you want someone to review your payroll and reporting processes before the new guidance lands, we’re happy to take a look with you.

This won’t shake your world, but it will reward those who keep their systems tidy, payroll, bookkeeping, and admin, and penalise those who leave everything until the last minute.

(If you’re reading this and thinking “that sounds like me”… deep breath. You’ve still got time.)

Strive’s Take: What This Budget Really Means for Small Businesses

Stepping back from the individual announcements, the overall message of this Budget is fairly clear: the landscape isn’t getting easier, but it is becoming more predictable.

The government is moving away from crisis-style interventions and back toward long-term adjustments, which means the support many businesses relied on over the past few years is gradually tapering off. At the same time, the areas receiving investment (digital tools, automation, sustainability) show you exactly where the government believes businesses should be heading.

For most small business owners, none of this is disastrous. But it does mean your numbers will matter more in 2026 than they perhaps have in previous years. Margins, staffing levels, pricing, cash flow, and the basics will carry more weight as reliefs shrink and wage costs rise.

The good news? Businesses that stay organised, review their figures early, and embrace the digital support on offer will be in a far stronger position than those who wait for change to happen to them.

And if the updates feel overwhelming or disconnected from your day-to-day reality, that’s normal.

Budgets often sound bigger and scarier than the actual steps you’ll take as a business owner.

Our advice: take a breath, take stock, and take things one piece at a time. The coming year is manageable, as long as you don’t leave everything until the last minute.

So, What Should You Do Now?

You don’t need a full financial overhaul. But you should give yourself half an hour to get ahead of the changes that matter.

• Look at your costs.

• Review your staffing.

• Make sure your pricing still makes sense.

• And if you’re not sure, ask someone who knows what to look for.

That’s literally what we’re here for.

If you’d like a quick chat about how any of these changes affect your setup, or if you want help planning for 2026, you can book a free call with us anytime.

In the meantime, we’ll continue keeping an eye on the updates and breaking them down in a way that makes sense for small business owners.