Autumn Statement 2022: A Quick Glance

On 17^th November 2022, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced his much-anticipated Autumn Statement.

Following the fallout from September’s mini budget, delivered by the now former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, the business world waited with bated breath to find out the ramifications.

Anyone who has tuned in previously to a statement will have been struck by the fact they’re full of numbers, acronyms, political barbs and feel like they last an eternity!

For this reason, we’ve decided to break things down to the very core of what was said and identify some of the key points that will impact your business.

The national living wage is increasing

The chancellor announced a 9.7% increase in the National Living Wage for all age groups bar 21 to 22 year old, who will benefit from a 10.9% increase.

The new rates are as follows:

From a business point of view, if you’re employing staff on National Living Rates, it’s important you work out what impact this will have on your payroll ahead of April.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme radio silence

With energy being one of our core business services, we were on the edge of our seats when the Chancellor referenced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme in his Autumn Statement speech. However, the excitement was short lived as he announced the scheme would be addressed at a later date.

The Autumn Statement confirmed we’re in a recession

The Chancellor confirmed what many already knew, the UK is in a recession with GDP expected to fall by 1.4% in 2023.

Such news only strengthens the need for businesses to gain a firm hold over their expenditure and protect that bottom line.

The planned business rates increase has been scrapped

Mr Hunt has pledged to support firms via an almost £14bn tax cut on business rates, benefitting over 700,000 UK businesses.

You can calculate your business rates here.

The April 2023 increase in corporation tax is still going ahead

From 1^st April 2023, the main rate of corporation tax will increase to 25% for profits in excess of £250,000. From the same date, a ‘small profits rate’ of 19% will apply to profits up to £50,000.

How can Procure Smart help?

Procure Smart is a brand-new service, created to help businesses like yours switch key areas of expenditure to save money.

Procure Smart’s team have been saving businesses money for more than 10 years.  So we realise they’re under more financial and time pressure than ever.

As a result, we have created a super-easy process for our experts to gather the necessary information to assess your costs and investigate savings, fast.

Speak to us today for a FREE, no-obligation assessment.

Smarter business switching.