Ideas for Business Growth in the UK

Article by Jonathan Williams CMIOSH, Intelligence Forums UK Growth Project Partner

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

As the managing director of a small consultancy, I see it every week: business owners who want to expand, take on staff and invest, but who look at the cost and risk of doing so and decide to wait. Growth forecasts for 2026 and 2027 sit at around 1%, business investment is flat, and almost a million young people are not in work, education or training. The answer is not more spending from Whitehall. It is to make it cheaper, simpler and less risky for businesses to start, hire and grow.

Give start-ups room to breathe

The first two or three years decide whether a new business survives. That is exactly when the tax system bites hardest, before a firm has the cash reserves to absorb it. I would offer new businesses a reduced rate of corporation tax for their first three years, and an exemption from employer National Insurance on their first few hires. Every successful start-up becomes a long-term taxpayer and employer; the relief pays for itself many times over.

Cut the red tape on hiring

Small firms do not have HR departments. Every new rule lands on the owner's desk. The Employment Rights Act 2025 is adding day-one sick pay, unfair dismissal rights after six months from January 2027, and more besides. The government's own estimate of its cost has ranged from £1 billion to £5 billion a year. Fair treatment of staff matters, and good employers already provide it. But when hiring someone feels like a legal risk, many owners simply do not hire. I would exempt businesses with fewer than 50 staff from the most onerous new obligations, and commit to removing one regulation for every new one introduced.

Back the next generation

In the spring of 2026 the number of young people not in work, education or training passed one million for the first time since 2013. It has since dipped to 981,000, or 13% of all 16 to 24-year-olds, but that is still a generation at risk of being left behind. Entry-level jobs are the first to go when employment costs rise. I would extend the existing employer National Insurance relief for under-21s to every worker under 25, pay a meaningful cash bonus to small firms for every apprentice they take on and keep, and cut the paperwork that puts so many small businesses off apprenticeships altogether. A young person in work today is a skilled worker and taxpayer for the next 40 years.

Lower, stable taxes grow the pie

In April 2025 employer National Insurance rose from 13.8% to 15%, and the threshold at which it starts fell from £9,100 to £5,000. For a small team of ten, that is thousands of pounds a year that could have funded a new hire. Hiring has slowed and investment has stalled as a result. Higher rates do not automatically mean higher revenue: they shrink the base they are levied on. I would reverse that rise, commit to no new business taxes for the rest of the Parliament, and give firms the certainty they need to plan. More businesses, more jobs and higher wages produce bigger tax receipts than squeezing a stagnant economy ever will.

Trust the people who create the jobs

The UK has 5.7 million small businesses and self-employed people. They are the engine of growth, and they are asking for something simple: lower costs, fewer barriers and the freedom to get on with it. Back them, and they will deliver the jobs, the apprenticeships and the tax revenue the country needs.