'I don't see much working in our favour': Wolverhampton business owners tell of Budget 2025 hopes and fears
There was a feeling of hoping for change in the Autumn Budget 2025 from Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves, but not expecting much to benefit them, from business owners in Wolverhampton.
Rachel Reeves is set to unveil the autumn Budget on Wednesday, with a series of measures aimed at balancing the books and reducing the "black hole" in public finances.
There has been a lot of conversation from financial experts and columnists about what might be in the red box, but the predictions are for extending the freeze on income tax thresholds, scrapping the controversial two-child benefit cap and making some changes to taxes on high-value homes.
It is also expected the Chancellor will cut the five per cent VAT on domestic energy bills, while the Government announced last week that rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years.
This time last year, businesses bore the brunt of a brutal set of hikes in the 2024 autumn Budget, with minimum wage and National Insurance increases, so business people around the country have been nervously awaiting Wednesday's revelations from the House of Commons.
In Wolverhampton, the feeling among business owners and leaseholders was a mixture of hoping for changes which would be beneficial for them, but also a feeling of scepticism about how much of it will actual help them and how much they could stand to lose from the budget.
At the Family Butchers on Cleveland Street, director Bilaal Hussain said he hoped to see help with reducing expenses around the business, but said he felt nothing would change.
