Budget 2025: A First Look. Stability, Complexity and What It Means for Doncaster Businesses

With 88 separate measures, this year’s Budget is nothing if not complex. It’s going to take time for businesses, analysts and policymakers to unpick where the real gives and takes sit - but the early mood is already taking shape. 

The general feeling is that, for businesses, it’s not as bad as last time. In truth, it would have been hard for it to get much worse. If nothing else, the Budget signals a period of greater stability. After years of turbulence, stability alone can feel like progress. 

But this is certainly not a Budget for growth. Many businesses describe it as a Budget for running to stand still at best and death by a thousand cuts at worse - preventing decline rather than setting the pace to meet the government’s own ambitious targets.  

Minimum Wage: The Immediate Pressure Point 

The minimum wage rise is great for workers, but it’s going to hit some sectors hard - especially retail, hospitality and the everyday businesses we all rely on. These industries have lots of minimum-wage staff, so when the base rate goes up, employers usually have to raise everyone else’s pay too. That extra cost often gets passed straight on to customers, which risks pushing prices up again just as things were starting to settle. 

And let’s be honest: the everyday economy might not get the headlines, but it’s what keeps local places going - from hairdressers and mechanics to florists, cafés and small high-street traders. If they have to hike prices, people have less spare cash, and the ripple effects hit every part of the economy. 

Protecting Live Racing: A Major Boost for Doncaster 

This is a big win for Doncaster, and something our members - including Goffs and Doncaster Racecourse - have been pushing for. They even raised it at our MP Question Time event over the summer. 

The government is raising taxes on online gambling, which has grown massively and brings its own risks, while protecting in-person gambling like bingo halls and horse racing. That exemption matters: it supports one of Doncaster’s key sectors and helps safeguard the wider economic ripple effects that live racing and events bring to the city. 

The Contradictions: Policies That Penalise Doing the “Right Thing” 

Alongside the sensible measures, there are also some inconsistent and frankly baffling decisions that appear to penalise people for doing things the government has historically encouraged: 

• Capping National Insurance relief on pension salary sacrifice — effectively penalising people for saving responsibly for retirement. 

• Introducing a new mileage supplement for electric vehicles from 2028 — undermining the government’s own push towards EV take-up. 

These contradictions create uncertainty for businesses and households alike. 

The Business-Friendly Measures 

There are, however, some measures that will be welcomed by businesses: 

• Business Rates changes, put simply: Small shops, restaurants, pubs and leisure businesses will get cheaper business rates, while big, high-value properties will pay more. 

• Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) will be expanded so that scale-up companies, not just start-ups, can use the scheme to attract and retain talent (from April 2026). 

• Measures trailed in the Government’s SME plan are starting to show up, though many come with long lead-in times — some not due until 2029, by which point the economic and possibly political landscape may look very different. 

Areas We Need to Explore Further 

Several areas will require deeper analysis in the coming weeks as the detail is released: 

• New Supporting Small Business schemes from April 2026. 

• Investment in jobs and skills, including the Youth Guarantee, Growth and Skills Levy, and further employment programmes. 

• Funding to increase planning capacity, aimed at speeding up development and helping Britain “get building”. 

• And for our charities: a new relief allowing organisations to donate goods to charity without a tax penalty — a genuinely helpful step for the voluntary sector (from April 2026). 

A Moment to Talk Up Our Strengths 

Despite the challenges, it’s important we don’t lose sight of what is going well. In Doncaster especially, we have enormous potential. Many of our businesses are performing strongly, innovating, and growing — and the Chamber is committed to supporting that momentum. 

Through our Local Skills Improvement Plan, our partnerships, and our policy insight, we’re helping ensure companies have the workforce, intelligence and support they need to thrive. By continuing to take part in our Quarterly Economic Survey (fill it in here), you help us understand how businesses are responding to government policy, regulation and taxation — and that intelligence is vital for shaping future decisions. 

Ultimately, success will rely on collaboration, networking and working together to find routes through a challenging but stabilising landscape. 

Tell Us What You Think 

We want to hear from businesses across Doncaster: 

How is the Budget affecting you?

Which measures will support you — and which will add pressure? 

Your insight helps shape our policy work and ensures your voice is heard where it matters.