Here’s a bold idea. Let’s ban the Budget.
When entrepreneurs are turning to me for business advice – specifically, asking whether they should sell up or move out of the country – you know that something has gone very, very wrong.
Today’s flip-flopping on hiking income tax rates is just the latest twist in a month or more of deep uncertainty for British businesses.
It’s no doubt partly why, as reported by John Thornhill in Sifted, we found in our latest poll that just 3% of founders thought the government understood the needs of entrepreneurs. As Thornhill reports, this lack of confidence has political consequences:
“Such has been the disappointment with the government that more respondents said they would vote for the populist Reform party (15%) than for the ruling Labour party (10%) if an election were held tomorrow. Even more unnervingly, 27% of entrepreneurs said they were intending to leave Britain over the next year.”
If Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are serious about, well, so-called “serious government,” ending the political chaos of the Budget would be the “grown-up” thing to do.
As I’ve argued in the past, periods of high political uncertainty typically coincide with measurable drops in new business formation, investment, and innovation. When founders anticipate shifts in tax policy, regulation, trade arrangements, or public spending, the resulting volatility makes it difficult to project returns and encourages firms to defer launches, pause expansion, rethink hiring, and put R&D on ice.
Academic studies illustrate these effects clearly. Following the unexpected policy regime shift after President Trump’s first term, researchers found a decline in patenting and VC funding among high-growth startups, especially those denied H-1B workers despite winning the visa lottery. As Nicholas Bloom’s latest paper shows, Brexit uncertainty produced similar outcomes in the UK, adding further weight to evidence that our withdrawal from the European Union reduced equity investment and lowered employment growth.
This is a long-winded way of backing Hugo Gye in The i Paper and Andrew Marr on LBC in calling for the Budget to be scrapped.
It wouldn’t be easy. Abolishing the Budget would require strict safeguards: regular Office for Budget Responsibility assessments to ensure borrowing rules are being met, and a transparent year-round balance sheet capturing all tax and spending changes. Continuous transparency and independent oversight would be essential to keep the public finances disciplined.
Nevertheless, the alternative is demonstrably worse. Annual Budget theatrics freeze investment, delay hiring, and distort economic decision-making across both the private and public sectors. Concentrating all major tax and spending signals into a single annual event amplifies volatility, creates avoidable information gaps, and ties business planning to an arbitrary political timetable.
Is this wishful thinking? Of course it is. But to steal the quip from Dr Madsen Pirie, who knows a thing or two about economic revolutions: “We propose things which people regard as being on the edge of lunacy. The next thing you know, they’re on the edge of policy.”
Rocketing Ahead
I’m delighted to share that Richard Browning, Founder and CEO of Gravity Industries, has joined us this week as an Adviser. You’ll recognise him as the man who “has turned the impossible dream of human flight into a ground-breaking $80m+ business.” In his own words:
“Entrepreneurship and innovation are the true engines of economic growth, and we need to keep that spirit alive by empowering the next generation of business owners to think boldly and act fearlessly. Every single business starts with individuals willing to take risks, challenge convention and build something new, and I’m looking forward to supporting The Entrepreneurs Network as they continue to play a crucial role in supporting these risk takers, and ensuring that innovation and entrepreneurship remain at the heart of Britain’s future.”
If that doesn’t inspire you to become an Adviser too, perhaps nothing will.
Firm Footing
Forsters LLP is the latest on our growing stable of Corporate Partners. Joining us as Advisers, we’re delighted to welcome Daniel Bryan, Counsel in the Corporate team, and Oliver Claridge, Senior Associate.
Daniel advises founders and investors across the full lifecycle of growth, giving him a sharp view of the legal and commercial frictions that slow fundraising, deals and exits. He will help shape our policy agenda around obstacles in UK company law and investment processes, ensuring our recommendations reflect the real challenges scaling businesses face.
Oliver is a recognised expert on founder-facing tax issues – from investment reliefs and employment taxation to cross-border and crypto tax – and will help guide our policy work by pinpointing the tax barriers that most constrain entrepreneurs and where targeted reform would have the biggest impact.
Get in touch to find out more about becoming a Corporate Partner.
Leaps and Bounds
A fast-growing London community of immigrant founders and investors is currently looking for a new home to expand. Founded by a highly respected early-stage venture group, this community runs more than 60 high-quality gatherings each year, bringing together founders, investors, operators, universities, and international delegations. Their focus is on helping ambitious entrepreneurs accelerate fundraising, go-to-market progress, and network-building within the UK tech ecosystem.
They’re now exploring partnership opportunities with organisations that share their mission or see a strategic fit in hosting a vibrant, high-growth founder community. If you know a venue, organisation, or partner that may be interested, I’d be very happy to make an introduction. Just let me know.
Steer the Agenda
I’m delighted to share that I’ve joined the Steering Group of the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC). Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the ERC has been delivering independent research to inform policy and practice on small- and medium-sized enterprises since 2013. Sign up to their newsletter here (scroll down).