The dust has settled, and General Election 2024 is over, with Labour emerging as the winner. As the first Labour government since 2010, Kier Starmer and his MPs will have plenty of ideas about how they can affect change across the UK’s most important areas for small business owners.
Entrepreneurs up and down the UK will today be wondering how the new government will aid them going forward. We’ve taken a look at Labour’s plans for business and the broader economy, and how they might affect you as a small business owner.
Labour is reassuring businesses and investors that it will give due warning to any tax and spending changes. Capping corporation tax at 25 per cent is one of the firm figures of Labour’s manifesto, with an additional promise to adjust this if other countries threaten to challenge UK competitiveness. There are also plans to retain the annual investment allowance for small businesses.
A replacement of the business rates system is also on the cards, with the aim being to close the gap between online retailers and high street shops. Theoretically, this should have the added benefit of revitalising the high street, filling the current glut of empty, boarded up shops.
The party has specifically targeted small businesses as part of its manifesto, which it has described as “the lifeblood of communities and high streets across the country”. The headline change here is the reformation of the British Business Bank, making it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to access capital and government contracts, as well as fewer barriers to exporting abroad. Tackling late payments rounds off this part of Labour’s plans, in a bid to make sure that small businesses and the self-employed are paid on time.
Labour has announced its plans for a New Deal that would revitalise post-16 education, getting more young people into apprenticeships and reducing unemployment within the 18-21 age group. This would involve broadening the existing Apprenticeship Levy into the Growth and Skills Levy, allowing businesses to use up to 50 per cent of their levy contributions to fund training on top of apprenticeships. Skills England will focus on non-apprenticeship training, including functional skills such as digital, technology, social care, and childcare.
With energy bills being a hot topic for both businesses and home voters, Labour has introduced Great British Energy – a new, publicly-owned company that will offer “home-grown” energy production. This will be backed up by £8.3 billion investment. The party also has plans for acceleration towards net zero, such as introducing a carbon adjustment border mechanism to protect industries that are decarbonising.
Thomas Farquhar, co-founder and chief operating officer of Heatio, a Liverpool-based low carbon tech start-up, says that energy needs to see actual change rather than continuing to be a political debate.
After years of climate change and energy security being used as a political football, we now need the new government to take immediate action. Promises must be put into action. Time has run out to use energy security, lower bills, and net zero as political footballs; we need a consistent, unified approach to this huge cost of living driver and national security issue.
More support is needed for people to adopt clean technology around the home. With winter just around the corner, now is the time for the new government to show strong leadership both immediately and in the long-term, and show the rest of the world that the UK won’t be left behind.