So George Osborne got out his ministerial Budget Box today and trundled along to the House of Commons to deliver some pretty significant announcements.
As with every Budget, the IT world looked on to see what the Government would change and how it would affect the industry.
Here's a rundown of the most pertinent points from today.
Enterprise zones
As expected, Osborne revealed a range of enterprise zones were to be set up across the UK, where businesses could expect to be less restricted by regulation and benefit from Government-funded services.
What wasn't expected was the number of zones. A total of 21 are set to spring up in places such as Sheffield, Manchester and London
Enterprise zones are nothing new, of course. Similar areas were set up in the 80s and 90s by previous Tory Governments.
What will be new, however, will be the addition of superfast broadband. Everyone knows the incredible economic benefits next-generation broadband is due to bring, so businesses in the relevant cities should get on board as soon as they can.
Small business boosts
Entrepreneurs and start-ups will no doubt be pleased by the Budget announcements, particularly in light of the tax breaks they could expect to see in the near future.
The Government has been waxing lyrical about making UK laws less stringent and getting rid of all that troublesome red tape so foreign investors aren't scared of establishing themselves here. With that in mind, Osborne announced corporate tax would be reduced two per cent this year. That will decrease to hit 23 per cent by 2014, making it the lowest corporate tax of all G7 countries.
Furthermore, businesses with 10 employees or less and genuine start-ups will be exempt from domestic regulation over next three years, making life considerably easier for them. Furthermore, from 6 April there will be a doubling in size of entrepreneur relief to 10 million.
This will be great for keeping exciting, young tech firms in this country, which will in turn be a boon for the economy as a whole.
It'll also be interesting to see what the new Start-up Britain body will do. Osborne wasn't forthcoming in how it would assist people in starting and growing a business in the UK, but let's hope it's not going to be a flop.
-
LaunchDarkly to "double down" on observability with Highlight acquisitionNews Highlight's observability tools will be integrated into LaunchDarkly's Guarded Releases software deployment service
-
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE reviewReviews The Tab S10 FE retains the feel and core capabilities of Samsung's high-end S10 tablets, but compromises on the display and the performance
-
Starmer bets big on AI to unlock public sector savingsNews AI adoption could be a major boon for the UK and save taxpayers billions, according to prime minister Keir Starmer.
-
UK government targets ‘startup’ mindset in AI funding overhaulNews Public sector AI funding will be overhauled in the UK in a bid to simplify processes and push more projects into development.
-
UK government signs up Anthropic to improve public servicesNews The UK government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Anthropic to explore how the company's Claude AI assistant could be used to improve access to public services.
-
The UK’s AI ambitions face one major hurdle – finding enough home-grown talentNews Research shows UK enterprises are struggling to fill AI roles, raising concerns over the country's ability to meet expectations in the global AI race.
-
US government urged to overhaul outdated technologyNews A review from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found legacy technology and outdated IT systems are negatively impacting efficiency.
-
UK financial services firms are scrambling to comply with DORA regulationsNews Lack of prioritization and tight implementation schedules mean many aren’t compliant
-
Government urged to improve tech procurement practicesNews The National Audit Office highlighted wasted money and a lack of progress on major digital transformation programmes
-
Government says new data bill will free up millions of hours of public sector timeNews The UK government is proposing new data laws it says could free up millions of hours of police and NHS time every year and boost the UK economy by £10 billion.
