National Craft Butchers Reacts to the Budget

National Craft Butchers Reacts to the Budget

It is clear that this Budget was not designed with SMEs front and centre. For butchers, and specialist retailers already operating on tight margins, the measures announced fall short of what is required to secure a thriving high street.

While the Budget may not deliver immediate relief for independent food businesses, it does at least provide certainty. With more defined relief structures, and stable wage forecasts for the coming year it will allow businesses at least to plan—if not grow.

NCB has criticised the Government for once again delaying meaningful business rates reform, despite repeated promises to address a system that disproportionately burdens small bricks-and-mortar shops.

“As things stand, thousands of independent shops will face higher operating costs, even as Ministers claim they are supporting local traders,” NCB warned. “Our members are the heart of their communities, but without a level playing field, many will struggle.”

NCB will continue to press the Government for fairer competition, genuine business rates reform, and targeted support for independent food businesses, all of which remain vital to securing the future of high streets across the UK.

Key points for Butchers from the Budget:

Employment

• The minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds will go up from £10 to £10.85 an hour from April, while the national living wage will go up from £12.21 to £12.71 an hour.
• From April 2029, there will be a £2,000 cap on the amount that can be put into a pension and shielded from national insurance contributions through salary sacrifice. Contributions above the threshold will be subject to both employer and employee NICs, 15% and 8% respectively for earnings under £50,270 and 2p on income above that level.
• Payrolling of benefits in kind from April 2027

Apprenticeships

• There will be funding to make sure that apprenticeships are free for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Business taxes

• The basic and higher rates of dividends tax is rising by 2% to 10.75% and 35.75% respectively from April 2026
• There will be an expansion of entrepreneurial investment schemes and there will be a three-year stamp duty holiday on the purchase of shares in companies newly listed in the UK.
• There will be a 40% allowance to allow businesses to write off more of their upfront investment costs.
• There will be permanently lowered business rates for 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, paid for higher rates on properties worth more than £500,000, used by “warehouse giants”. There will be £4.3bn of support for properties that receive a large increase in their bill.

Electric vehicles

• As expected, there will be new excise duty on electric cars, payable alongside vehicle excise duty, at 3p a mile for electric cars and 1.5p for plug-in hybrids, to help double funding for road maintenance in England.

Milkshake tax

• Dairy-based drinks such as milkshakes and canned lattes are being added to the sugar tax. The levy will also be tougher overall, with the threshold for its application cut from 5g for each 100ml to 4.5g.

Full Budget: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/budget-2025