Autumn Budget 2025

What the Autumn Budget 2025 Means for Business, Households & Growth

1. The Timing & Backdrop

The Chan­cel­lor, Rachel Reeves, will deliv­er the Autumn Bud­get on 26 Novem­ber 2025, in the House of Com­mons.
This year’s Bud­get takes place against a chal­leng­ing eco­nom­ic back­drop:

• Slug­gish growth and weak pro­duc­tiv­i­ty remain issues for the UK econ­o­my.
• The gov­ern­ment must adhere to its self-imposed fis­cal rules: name­ly that day-to-day spend­ing must be matched by tax rev­enues, and net debt must fall as a share of GDP.
• With bor­row­ing costs ris­ing and gov­ern­ment finances under pres­sure, there is spec­u­la­tion the Chan­cel­lor will need to raise new rev­enue or reform tax allowances.

2. What We Might See

Noth­ing is con­firmed yet, but key areas being flagged by tax com­men­ta­tors include:

• Wealth, prop­er­ty & cap­i­tal tax­a­tion: There is spec­u­la­tion changes may come to inher­i­tance tax (IHT), cap­i­tal gains tax (CGT), or prop­er­ty-based levies.
• Freez­ing or reform­ing tax thresh­olds: Rather than rais­ing head­line tax rates, the gov­ern­ment may rely on “fis­cal drag” (freez­ing thresh­olds so more peo­ple pay more tax over time).
• Busi­ness tax and tech­ni­cal changes: For firms, expec­ta­tions include reform of trans­fer-pric­ing rules, car­bon bor­der adjust­ment mech­a­nism, ener­gy prof­its levy, and busi­ness rate reform.
• Promised tax sta­tus for work­ing peo­ple: Impor­tant­ly, the gov­ern­ment has reit­er­at­ed it does not intend to raise basic income tax, VAT or nation­al insur­ance for “work­ing peo­ple”.

3. How This Affects Business & Manufacturing

For man­u­fac­tur­ers and SMEs — includ­ing those in sec­tors like plas­tics, engi­neer­ing or using ERP/MRP sys­tems — the Autumn Bud­get could have sig­nif­i­cant impli­ca­tions:

• Cost man­age­ment & invest­ment: If new levies or tax changes are intro­duced, your cost base may be impact­ed. It may be wise to con­sid­er whether planned invest­ment (machin­ery, soft­ware, automa­tion) should be brought for­ward.
• Sup­ply-chain and mate­r­i­al impact: Changes in busi­ness tax, import duty reliefs or carbon/energy levies could affect mate­r­i­al sourc­ing and oper­a­tional costs.
• Com­pli­ance & sys­tem readi­ness: Reforms to tax rules or thresh­olds will increase the impor­tance of accu­rate data and sys­tems — ERP/MRP solu­tions that pro­vide inte­grat­ed finan­cial, pro­cure­ment, pro­duc­tion and inven­to­ry data will be a dif­fer­en­tia­tor.
• Oppor­tu­ni­ty for dif­fer­en­ti­a­tion: Firms that act ear­ly and adapt can turn change into oppor­tu­ni­ty — e.g. by stream­lin­ing oper­a­tions, improv­ing trace­abil­i­ty, reduc­ing waste and improv­ing mar­gins ahead of peers.

4. Practical Steps You Can Take Now

• Review your invest­ment plans: If you are con­sid­er­ing cap­i­tal expen­di­ture (machin­ery, automa­tion, soft­ware upgrades) check whether tim­ing might offer ben­e­fit ahead of any announced changes.
• Check your cost struc­tures: Map where your busi­ness is exposed to poten­tial tax/levy changes (prop­er­ty, ener­gy, car­bon, busi­ness rates) and stress-test dif­fer­ent sce­nar­ios.
• Ensure your sys­tems are up to date: An ERP/MRP solu­tion that con­nects pro­duc­tion, pro­cure­ment, finance and qual­i­ty is more vital than ever in a chang­ing fis­cal envi­ron­ment.
• Com­mu­ni­cate with your team and sup­pli­ers: A Bud­get that brings change will rip­ple through sup­ply chains — sup­pli­er cost increas­es, lead time changes or reg­u­la­to­ry shifts may fol­low.
• Stay informed: Set aside time to mon­i­tor the Bud­get announce­ments on 26 Novem­ber and review expert com­men­tary. This will enable you to make rapid strate­gic deci­sions.

5. Final Thoughts

The Autumn Bud­get 2025 isn’t just about tax rates or head­line announce­ments — it’s about long-term fis­cal strat­e­gy, growth and sta­bil­i­ty. For busi­ness­es, espe­cial­ly in man­u­fac­tur­ing and sup­ply chains, it’s a sig­nal to act: strength­en your sys­tems, sharp­en your cost con­trol, invest wise­ly, and be ready for change.

By adopt­ing a proac­tive mind­set, you can use this Bud­get as a cat­a­lyst for improve­ment rather than wait­ing reac­tive­ly. Whether it’s bet­ter data, stream­lined pro­duc­tion, or smarter invest­ment — firms that pre­pare now will be ahead when the announce­ments land.