UK business closures surge after budget hit to employers

COMPANY insolvencies are surging in the UK after the Labour government reduced tax breaks and increased levies on owners. 

At least 1,022 companies filed to shut down in the week ended Nov 8, a rise of 64 per cent from a year earlier, according to notices filed to the Gazette. 

That’s a potential headache for Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, who will try to turn the page on her budget of higher taxes with a speech to businesses this week that will champion economic growth and the importance of free trade. The chancellor will also set out a plan to partner with the financial sector and reform pensions in an attempt to stoke economic growth.

Some owners of solvent companies had already started winding up their firms ahead of the Oct 30 budget, as Reeves was widely expected to hike taxes on wealth. In the event, she cut a tax break on capital gains known as business asset disposal relief. Owners who qualify for the relief will see the levy climb from 10 per cent to 14 per cent, with plans to increase it to 18 per cent in 2026.

Labour also lifted the main rates of capital gains tax, while hospitality bosses have warned of job cuts after a major payroll tax – employers’ national insurance contributions – and the minimum wage were both raised.

Growth data this week will probably show Britain’s economy is losing steam after a slowdown in the third quarter, according to Bloomberg Economics, which added that consumers seem reluctant to spend despite healthy real wage gains. BLOOMBERG