So, a quick overview of the Budget implications from a helicopter view point:

  • The good: Significant support for investment (increasing AIA to £500k through 2015); for innovation (boosting R&D tax credit for loss-making SMEs) and exports (via additional funding for UKTI and UK Export Finance).
  • The bad: More chipping away a Departmental budgets could mean up to a further £300mn per year in cuts to MOD spending. It might not seem like a lot, but it’s small innovative SMEs that suffer the most from these relatively lower level cutbacks.
  • The ugly: Not really relevant for ADS members, but the significant raft of pension reforms wiped around £4.5bn off the value of the top 5 assurance companies. That’s a big impact in an afternoon.

I’ll post more on the economics of the Budget tomorrow.