Each year, we ask the team at TruSolv for their outlook on the next 12 months. Our predictions for 2025, mainly that lots of businesses would feel the impact of increased Employer’s NI and interest rates and be forced to make significant staff changes, were accurate. Cash flow for many businesses continues to need to be stringently managed.

The latest announcements from the Autumn Budget haven’t offered any breathing space for businesses, though the initial headlines have tried to paint a more positive picture.

Here’s what the team predicts for 2026.

Increased minimum wage rates will counteract any frozen business rate relief.

The headline read that the temporary 40% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses would be replaced by a permanent, lower multiplier discount. Good news on the face of it. However, given that these businesses employ lots of staff on minimum wage, the increases to these rates in April 2026 will erode any such business rate relief.

We believe that we’ll continue to see business owners making the difficult decision to employ fewer staff and cover the work themselves.

Changes to pension contributions will force a review of remuneration packages.

Although the reforms to salary sacrifice will further increase employment costs from 2029 (and be taxable for the employee too), there is plenty of time for businesses to review and refresh their current remuneration and benefits packages. This could be an opportunity to get really creative, and if leaning on the advice of professional advisors, could potentially identify other tax savings.

The jury is still out on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill.

The initial “day one” proposal as the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection wasn’t accepted. Employees will now qualify after six months, instead of two years. There is still a lot of detail to flesh out and we’ll certainly be in conversation with our HR contacts to understand exactly what this means for businesses.

From our perspective, businesses need agility, especially when they are financially up against it. We know that these businesses don’t make redundancy decisions lightly, it’s often the last resort to keep the business going and to continue to employ some of their staff. Having to navigate more stringent employment legislation might simply make them think twice about taking on new employees for the fear of it not working out and them ending up with a lawsuit on their hands.

Qualified advice when you need it.

We don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future, but we do have several decades of experience to help you navigate financial challenges in your business. We can assess potential solutions and advise you on the next steps to take. Call 0808 196 8676.