Spring Statement 2025 – What does the Budget update mean for business owners?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered the 2025 Spring Statement on Wednesday 26 March, with the goal to deliver economic stability, stimulate economic growth and renew public finances as working people continue to feel the pinch from the cost of living crisis.

The Chancellor reaffirmed that no major fiscal changes would be in store to keep in line with the practice of one major fiscal event per year.

@realbusinessrescue No major announcements likely to impact businesses, however, this does not mean challenging times are not on the horizon. With the upcoming increase to Employer National Insurance Contributions, coupled with an uncertain economic outlook, some businesses are already feeling the strain. If this is you, contact the experts at Real Business Rescue for immediate help and advice. ☎️ 0800 644 6080 📧 [email protected] 🔗 www.realbusinessrescue.co.uk #SpringStatement #SpringBudget #RachelReeves ♬ original sound - Real Business Rescue

What does the Spring Statement mean for UK businesses?

The Chancellor set out her plan to provide the economy with the growth that it needs through targeted investment across key UK sectors, including construction and defence. With ambitious objectives to ‘get Britain building’ and transform Britain into a ‘defence industrial superpower’, the Chancellor delivered her roadmap for economic growth.

Here is a summary of the measures announced in the Spring Statement for UK business owners:

Tax thresholds – These will be frozen until 2028 to help meet government spending targets and raise money for frontline public services.

Construction labour shortage – The Chancellor announced over £600 million in funding to train 60,000 more construction workers to feed the skilled labour shortage in construction and create new opportunities for young people. This will be supported by over 10 technical excellence colleges across the country.

Housebuilding – Reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework will reintroduce mandatory housing targets and fuel housebuilding activity which is expected to hit a 40-year high. The reform will help build 1.3 million homes over the next five years which is within touching distance of Labour’s manifesto target of 1.5 million homes.

This includes 18,000 new affordable and social homes which will allow local areas the opportunity to bid for new developments.

Tax evasion – Further investment will fuel the crackdown on tax evasion. This will raise an additional £1 billion and take the total figure raised to £7.5 billion. 

Defence – The Spring Statement focused heavily on defence investment to bring innovative technology to the frontline which will create record jobs for tech professionals.

While the Spring Statement was mostly good news for some of the UK’s largest sectors, the 2024 Autumn Budget delivered a blow to employers with Employers’ National Insurance Contributions set to increase from April 2025 and changes to Members’ Voluntary Liquidation tax. National Living Wage is also set to increase from April 2025.