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Chancellor John Healey's first Budget has won cautious approval from business. Leading figures say it was a relief, but warn that relief is not the same as ambition. In this Big Boss Interview Budget special, AO founder John Roberts, venture capitalist and founder of Passion Capital and NFG Ventures Eileen Burbidge and Rigby Group chief executive Steve Rigby agreed the chancellor had little room to move, however they disagreed on whether he made the most of what he had.
Steve Rigby runs one of the UK's largest privately owned business groups, with interests across tech, property, aviation and hotels. He described the Budget as a "do-no-harm" statement that went a little further than expected. He pointed to the scale of the change: about £600m of tax rises next year, compared with nearly £40bn raised across the previous two Labour Budgets.
He welcomed the absence of new taxes on employing people. He also welcomed a 3.9% rise in the national living wage, which he said was broadly in line with private-sector pay growth. For him, the Budget gives business a base of confidence to build on.
Eileen Burbidge, founding partner of Passion Capital, said what was missing mattered as much as what was announced. Ahead of the Budget, investors had worried about higher capital gains tax, wealth taxes and exit taxes, any of which could have pushed money and talent abroad. None of them came.
She saw the new founders' relief, which caps capital gains tax at 10% for qualifying entrepreneurs, as a step in the right direction. She also welcomed changes to employee share options, talent visas and fresh money for the National Wealth Fund. But she noted that the details of founders' relief are still subject to consultation.
She said many in the sector had also hoped for relief on gains reinvested in new businesses, and that did not come. John Roberts was the most critical. He accepted that the chancellor was boxed in by world events and a lack of money.
But he argued that the government had again failed to turn talk into concrete plans. He believes cost-of-living support on this scale will be quickly wiped out by any fresh rise in fuel prices. He thinks the government should focus on areas it can control.
He dismissed founders' relief as a soundbite, saying no one should start a business because of a tax break. . The family business tax was a point of agreement. Rigby chairs Family Business UK.
He welcomed a measure that protects transfers of family firms from new rules on business sales, but said the wider fight over the family business tax introduced in 2024 is far from won. Roberts said his own company is not family-owned, but argued that family firms tend to think longer-term, invest in their staff and support their local communities. He warned that once that network is damaged, it is very hard to rebuild.
On growth, the panel was realistic rather than gloomy. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects the UK to grow by 1.2% this year, slowing to 1% next year and staying below 2% until 2031. Rigby argued that low growth is a problem across developed economies, not a uniquely British one.
He said AI offers productivity gains that forecasters find hard to include. Burbidge pointed to Britain's universities, its cluster of tech talent and its position as the world's third AI power behind the US and China. That makes the UK hard for investors to ignore.
Rigby raised the biggest unanswered question: whether AI-driven productivity will create jobs, or leave the country with a growing economy and rising unemployment. Households are under strain. Roberts described consumers as worried, with spending on non-essentials under real pressure.
The OBR expects living standards to rise by just 1% over the decade from 2020. Rigby said inflation of 3.5% leaves very little room for real wage growth. He expects another year of pressure unless an end to the war brings energy costs down.
Presenter: Sean Farrington Producer: Olie D'Albertanson Editor: Henry Jones 01:34 First reactions to the Budget 03:47 One million NEETs costing £125bn a year 13:08 Founders' relief dismissed as a soundbite 16:20 Exit taxes and the family business tax 20:52 OBR growth forecasts 25:17 Britain as a world centre for drug research 28:56 Robotics manufacturing and sovereignty 33:00 Living standards and real wage growth 40:53 Budget day in the war room
Source: BBC
