Chancellor John Healey is expected to scale back Business Asset Disposal Relief in next week’s Budget, increasing tax risk for owners preparing to sell. BADR applies an 18% capital gains tax rate to qualifying gains within a £1m lifetime limit, with HMRC estimating the relief cost £800m last year. The Treasury is examining whether exit rewards encourage sufficient investment and could redirect savings into lower rates or enhanced reliefs for founders who create jobs and reinvest in Britain. Business groups warn that restrictions would penalise owners who have spent years building companies and expect sale proceeds to fund retirement.

Chancellor John Healey is expected to raise the bank profit surcharge from 3% to 8% in next week’s Budget, potentially raising £2.2bn from Britain’s four largest banks. Bank taxes yielded £11bn in 2024-25. The Government is seeking to repair public finances while high interest rates sustain strong bank profits. UK Finance estimates the rise would reduce credit supply by £17.5bn over a decade, a fraction of the UK’s £2.2tn pool of mortgages and business loans. Owners considering a sale could therefore face dearer acquisition finance and weaker leveraged bids, although Citi says investors have already priced in much of the expected tax increase.

Andy Haldane, president of the British Chambers of Commerce and a former adviser to Andy Burnham, has called for heavier taxes on internet sales and an overhaul of business rates. He said tax incentives favour digital and large operators over physical and small businesses, contributing to shop closures and weaker town centres. Chancellor John Healey is expected to target online marketplaces in Wednesday’s Budget and raise the rental-value threshold at which small businesses begin paying rates.

Reports say the Government may raise the personal allowance from £12,570 to £15,570. AJ Bell estimates each £500 increase saves basic-rate taxpayers £100 annually; HMRC says it costs £5bn. Chancellor John Healey has dismissed Labour MPs’ calls to raise CGT.

Average full-time salaries in Britain have surpassed £40,000 for the first time, reaching £40,911 in the year to April 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Median annual pay rose 4.5% year-on-year, while average full-time weekly earnings increased 5.8% to £811.20. However, after inflation, full-time pay rose by just 2.7%. Frozen income tax thresholds are increasing the tax burden on workers as wages rise, with the number of income taxpayers estimated to have risen from 33m in 2021/22 to 39.8m in 2025/26. The ONS data shows that the gender pay gap among full-time employees narrowed from 7.2% to 6.8%, with average annual pay standing at £43,934 for men and £37,471 for women. Managers recorded the fastest weekly pay growth, at 6.7%, while factory workers saw the slowest increase, at 4.1%.

More than seven in ten companies attempting to hire have faced recruitment difficulties, with the British Chambers of Commerce putting the proportion at 71%. Its survey of 4,300 mainly small- and medium-sized businesses found the rate eased from 73% in the second quarter. Construction firms were most likely to struggle, as soaring employment costs constrained hiring and growth. Fewer than a quarter plan to expand their workforce over the next three months, while vacancies have fallen again.

Foreign buyers spent £74.1bn acquiring UK companies in the nine months to June, compared with just £800m by domestic buyers, according to advisory firm Trachet. Overseas investors completed 759 acquisitions against 605 by UK buyers, marking four consecutive quarters in which foreign purchasers have led on deal numbers. Trachet chief executive Claire Trachet said British dealmakers were being “severely outgunned”, although she noted that foreign acquisitions can provide UK businesses with funding, scale and international reach. Meanwhile, UK companies have increasingly opted to list overseas, with seven businesses worth a combined £270bn launching initial public offerings abroad since 2023, according to Peel Hunt.

A £70m Future London Growth Fund, backed by the Mayor of London and the British Business Bank, has launched to help high-growth businesses struggling to secure finance from traditional lenders. Managed by investment firm FSE Group, it will provide loans of between £1m and £3m to companies across the capital. The fund aims to bridge the gap between conventional bank lending and larger venture debt deals, supporting businesses with strong growth prospects that may not yet be profitable. Research by the British Business Bank found that 71% of London business owners reported making a profit, compared with 84% nationally.

UK consumer confidence plunged 11 points to minus 24 in October, GfK’s steepest monthly fall since the pandemic began in 2020 and a reversal of three months of gains. The decline matched the drop after the 2016 Brexit referendum, while expectations for the economy and willingness to make major purchases each fell 14 points. GfK client strategy director Joe Staton cited surging fuel and energy prices, higher mortgage rates and uncertainty before next week’s Budget. Inflation stands at 3.5%, constraining household budgets, while Ofgem’s energy price cap is forecast to lift average annual bills 16% in January to nearly £2,000, affecting consumer spending ahead of Christmas.

Writing in The Times, former Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones argues that the Budget must combine energy-bill support with concrete measures for business after the UK became the G7’s fastest-growing economy. Growth has beaten expectations quarter after quarter, but construction and retail are struggling as higher energy bills, extreme weather and stronger-than-hoped inflation threaten a difficult winter and 2027. Jones wants targeted household energy support, help for high streets and measures offsetting expected bank tax changes, alongside wider artificial intelligence training and technology adoption to raise private-sector productivity.

London Stock Exchange Group is buying New York credit-intelligence business Octus for £2.6bn, its biggest acquisition since Refinitiv in 2019. The transaction follows investor pressure on LSEG and Relx over fears that artificial intelligence could disrupt data and analytics franchises despite rising income. It preserves buyer appetite for specialised information assets serving credit markets, restructuring advisers and institutional investors.