LCCI Comment on the Upcoming Autumn Budget 2025
Thursday 6 November 2025
The Chancellor has made it clear that businesses and individuals can expect tax rises in the impending Budget. London businesses need a Budget that backs businesses, not one that burdens them. A Budget that provides firms with the stability and confidence to invest, export, and create jobs, rather than adding to the pressures they already face.
Londoners are clear: further tax rises would be deeply damaging to both London and the wider UK economy. In a recent survey of our members, the majority SMEs, six in ten firms (61%) said additional tax increases would harm growth, while nearly half (43%) said tax rises would force them to raise prices, fuelling inflation further. Businesses need a stable, predictable tax environment that encourages investment, not a system that piles on new costs through higher taxes or outdated business rates. Rates, which in London are already among the highest in the country, placing a significant burden on firms trying to grow and create jobs.
London’s role as a global hub means trade and exports must be central to any growth plan. Reducing customs barriers, improving digital trade systems, and backing new trade accelerators will help firms access global markets more easily turning London’s international strengths into national gains.
London’s economic recovery is currently being held back by severe labour and skills shortages. Despite London’s global reputation for talent and innovation, too many firms are struggling to recruit the people they need. Alongside a more responsive immigration system, there must be a renewed focus from this Budget on domestic skills and inclusion, including practical support to help young people with long-term health conditions get into work.
Crucially, London’s ability to drive national prosperity depends on sustained investment in its infrastructure. While we welcome commitments to long-term transport funding, key projects such as the DLR and Bakerloo Line extensions and the Lower Thames Crossing remain unfunded. Likewise, we welcome the Government’s investment into airport expansion, but these expansions but be allowed to happen at pace to maintain the UK’s global competitiveness and connectivity. Investment in energy grid capacity, digital networks, and planning approvals must also be accelerated, and we welcome the government’s recognition of this. These are not “London-only” projects, they are national growth assets.
Finally, small businesses, the backbone of London’s economy, must be at the heart of this Budget. With limited reserves and tight margins, they are disproportionately affected by rising costs and uncertainty. SMEs need targeted support to help them scale up and access finance.
We urge the Chancellor to back London’s businesses not with further burdens, but with a plan for growth that empowers enterprise, supports investment, and secures London’s role as a driver of national prosperity. A thriving London drives prosperity nationwide. This Budget should recognise and enable that.