A deep dive into the 2025 Budget, digital assets become recognised property, and the ICO reports good progress on website cookie compliance
Budget 2025: What Businesses Can Take from the OBR’s Verdict on Growth
The latest Budget was packed with policy announcements, but according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), these policies will not really change the UK’s growth outlook over the next five years.
Compared with the forecast it prepared in March 2025, the OBR has lifted its expectation for growth this year but then marks it down every year through to 2030. If you were hoping for a clearer sense of the economy’s direction after the Budget, the message is mixed at best.
No Further NI Increase
One point of relief from the Budget was what didn’t happen. After last year’s significant rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions, there were no major new tax costs for employers. However, meaningful pro-business measures were also limited and could leave you wondering where business growth is going to come from.
Even businesses in sectors that did receive some targeted help, including retail and hospitality, are warning that their overall cost base is still set to rise.
Two areas – business rates and wage costs – seem to be standing out.
Business Rates: Relief, But Maybe Still Higher Bills
Business rates remain a major pressure point for high street businesses, with many seeing their rateable value increase due to the 2026 revaluation.
Many shops, pubs and hospitality businesses will have their rates calculated using a lower percentage of their property value; however, taken in combination with higher valuations many businesses are braced for higher bills.
For cash flow planning, this is something to review sooner rather than later.
Wage Costs: Good for Workers, Harder for Employers
National minimum wage increases will help workers, particularly those who are younger, but it means further cost pressure on employers already managing tight margins.
This may impact your recruitment or staffing plans or mean you need to look at raising prices to cover the additional costs.
Salary Sacrifice Cap for Pensions
The £2,000 cap on pension salary sacrifice arrangements also attracted attention. Amounts that are contributed above the cap will become subject to employer and employee national insurance contributions, making these arrangements much less desirable.
Concerns have been raised about the impact this change could have on business investment and pension funding.
It is worth noting that these changes are not proposed to take effect until 6 April 2029. So, there is still time for employers and employees to take advantage of the current rules.
If you would like advice on how a salary sacrifice arrangement for pension contributions works, please get in touch and we would be happy to provide you with personalised advice.
Wider Access to Investment Incentives
One measure that may help some growing businesses over the longer term is the expansion of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).
EIS schemes provide tax incentives to investors who invest in smaller companies, and from April 2026, investment will be allowed into businesses that have grown beyond the previous size limits.
What to Consider Now
While the Budget’s forecasts may not paint an especially bright picture for national growth, your own plans don’t have to rise or fall with the wider numbers. Many businesses continue to expand by focusing on the areas they can influence day-to-day. You can do the same.
Some sensible steps to consider based on the Budget measures would include:
- Reviewing your business rates valuation and checking whether you are eligible for any transitional relief.
- Update your financial projections to factor in wage increases next April.
- Look again at any pension contribution salary sacrifice arrangements you have and make sure staff understand how the changes could affect them.
- If you are seeking investment for your company, it could be worth looking at the updated EIS rules to see whether they might open any new opportunities for you.
If you need help working through any of these changes – or simply want a second opinion on how they affect your plans – feel free to get in touch. We would be happy to help you!
Digital Assets Become Recognised Property
A legal landmark was reached last week as the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act received Royal Assent.
The new law confirms that certain digital assets – including cryptocurrency tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – can now be formally recognised as personal property in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, the Digital Assets (Scotland) Bill, which will recognise digital assets as property, is currently progressing through the parliamentary process.
This new legislation puts the UK among the first jurisdictions worldwide to give digital assets the same legal standing as traditional assets. For businesses and individuals making use of Bitcoin and other digital assets, the legislation provides much-needed certainty.
By recognising digital assets as personal property, the law strengthens the protections available to owners, including:
- Clearer legal rights if certain digital assets are stolen.
- Enabling cryptocurrency to be passed down through inheritance.
- Recognition of certain digital assets during insolvency allowing them to be recovered by creditors.
The law should now give businesses greater legal certainty over the status of any cryptocurrency they hold.
ICO Reports Good Progress on Website Cookie Compliance
In its latest update, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced that more than 95% of the UK’s top 1,000 websites now meet the rules on how they use cookies.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small files saved on a user’s device when they visit a website. Some are essential to make a site work properly, but others – particularly advertising cookies – track browsing habits so that you can be shown personalised adverts. A marketing practice that makes many people uncomfortable.
These tracking cookies can only be used if a user has given clear permission. One of the ICO’s tasks is to ensure people genuinely get that choice – and that websites respect the law by waiting for consent before placing any non-essential cookies.
What the ICO Found
The regulator assessed the 1,000 most-visited websites in the UK, looking at three straightforward points:
- Were advertising cookies being placed before users had a chance to say yes or no?
- Was rejecting tracking cookies just as easy as accepting them?
- Were any tracking cookies used even when the user had refused consent?
The results show clear progress:
- 979 out of 1,000 websites now meet the basic compliance checks.
- 415 sites were already compliant when tested, while 564 improved their practices after the ICO contacted them.
- Only 21 websites are still failing, and the ICO is continuing to take action on these sites.
The ICO has said it will continue periodic checks so that websites don’t slip back into old habits.
The ICO has also mentioned that they continue to work with stakeholders on how privacy-friendly online advertising can be used where users have not granted consent but the risk to privacy is low. See: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2025/12/ico-action-secures-increased-cookie-compliance/