Chancellor George Osborne unveiled his Budget this afternoon, saying it was for people who "work hard and get on", as he a revealed a number of initiatives he claimed would aid small business.

Predicting the country would not collapse into a triple dip recession, he did however admit a recovery was "taking longer than expected".

His revised forecast is for the UK’s national debt to rise to 85% of GDP and not start coming down until 2017/18 - a year later than previously predicted.

Key measures introduced in the 2013 Budget included:

  • 450,000 small firms will pay no employer National Insurance, as the first £2,000 to be taken off all employers’ bills

 

  • Cutting the level of corporation tax from 21% to 20%

 

  • Extending the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) holiday. Giving CGT relief for sales of businesses to employees.

 

  • Cancelling September’s fuel duty increase.

 

  • Increasing investment in infrastructure by £3bn per year from 2015/2016.

 

  • Government procurement from small firms to rise fivefold


For more details, see this week’s British Baker magazine (22 March).

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