Enterprise Nation's Autumn Budget 2025 submission for small businesses

Read a summary of Enterprise Nation's submission to the government ahead of the Autumn Budget 2025, to be delivered by chancellor Rachel Reeves on Wednesday 26 November.

The submission centres around key policy priorities, closely aligned with the pressing concerns of our 150,000+ members.

This is set to be a pivotal Budget for the UK economy. The Chancellor has said her focus is on "building an economy that works for working people" through long-term reform, tight control of day-to-day spending and investment in the foundations of growth.

But it comes against a backdrop of weak business confidence and tax concerns.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales reports that confidence among UK firms has fallen to its lowest level in three years, with 60% of businesses naming the tax burden as a growing concern. Many firms are holding back on recruitment and investment as they wait to see what the Budget brings.

Enterprise Nation's submission

Our submission sets out practical measures to help small businesses weather these pressures and contribute to renewed growth.

It draws on the views of over one million founders who use our platform each year and reflects what they tell us about rising costs, cash-flow constraints and the need for clear, consistent support to start, trade and grow.

You can read the full submission now, but we've summarised the key proposals below:

Access to markets

• Make sure UK Export Finance is sufficiently resourced to meet its target of supporting 1,000 SMEs per year by 2029.

• Extend the deemed reseller regime to all marketplace sellers to close VAT fraud and level the playing field.

• Champion small business exports through visible leadership and co-ordinated promotion.

• Reinstate and modernise a UK Tradeshow Access Programme to trigger exporting among a greater number of small businesses.

Access to technology

• Mandate e-invoicing for UK businesses, phased from VAT-registered B2B.

• Deliver CTO-as-a-Service to unlock digital adoption across UK SMEs.

• Offer targeted tax incentives to support businesses with the cost of adopting AI and technology.

Access to finance

• Expand Making Tax Digital to include companies with a yearly turnover of less than £20,000.

• Raise the VAT registration threshold to £100,000 in Great Britain, with tailored arrangements for Northern Ireland.

• Raise the UK's trading allowance to £3,000 to unlock low-barrier entrepreneurship.

Access to talent

• Make unspent funds from the Growth and Skills Levy automatically flow to small businesses by default.

• Improve support programmes to help older workers move from unemployment into self-employment.

• Introduce targeted tax incentives to support small business with upskilling.

• Embed enterprise education across the curriculum to build a more innovative, work-ready cohort.

Access to space

• Introduce a commercial conversion charge to rebalance tax incentives.

• Empower local authorities to tailor business rates reliefs and exemptions.

• Commission a national support programme to make high-street rental auctions work for small businesses.

Enterprise Nation will have full coverage of the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025.