What Can Businesses Expect?

We have a date for the next Budget.

Chancellor John Healey will deliver his first Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026, just over three months after taking charge of the Treasury.

Healey confirmed the date in a video announcement, saying the Government was moving quickly to restore hope and support communities across Britain. He succeeded Rachel Reeves as Chancellor on 20 July, following Andy Burnham’s appointment as Prime Minister.

That gives the new Chancellor just 89 days to prepare his first major fiscal statement.

Perhaps that relatively short run-up isn’t a bad thing. The lengthy build-up to the 2025 Budget brought plenty of speculation about what might or might not change, which inevitably made it more difficult for businesses and households to plan with any certainty.

Moving money away from Westminster

One theme we already know will feature heavily is devolution.

Healey has said the Budget will aim to move money and decision-making away from Westminster and into communities across the country, making greater regional control an important part of the new Government’s economic plans.

At the same time, he has been keen to stress that this won't mean abandoning financial discipline.

The Chancellor has confirmed that the Government intends to continue meeting its existing fiscal rules, despite the pressures on the public finances and demands for further spending.

Stability will matter to businesses

Healey has also said the Budget should give businesses and families the stability they need to plan for the future.

For businesses, that word stability is probably one of the more important parts of the announcement.

Whatever measures eventually appear in the red box, knowing what you're dealing with makes planning, forecasting and investment considerably easier than trying to run a business against a backdrop of constant speculation.

The challenge for Healey will be balancing the Government's ambitions for greater regional investment and control with its commitment to responsible borrowing and spending.

This will be his first Budget as Chancellor and one of the earliest indications of how Andy Burnham's Government intends to put its economic plans into practice.

For now, Wednesday 28 October is the date for the diary. Once we know what's actually in the Budget, I'll be looking beyond the headlines at what the announcements really mean for businesses and their owners.

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