INSIGHT Budget
“The Budget’s £5bn investment to get high-speed broadband into the hardest to reach places will be welcomed
by those who have been held back by substandard internet connectivity. - Richard Tang, Founder of Zen
Budget reaction
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced the new budget in one of the biggest health crises to
face the UK for years. In this feature Comms Business takes a look at the telecoms and IT market’s reactions
Richard Tang, Founder & Chairman,
Zen Internet
“The Budget’s £5bn investment to get highspeed
broadband into the hardest to reach
places will be welcomed by those who have
been held back by substandard internet
connectivity.
“For years many rural communities
have suffered with poor connectivity, with
infrastructure investment in towns and
cities taking priority. Today the Chancellor
looks to remedy this imbalance. This will
breathe life into businesses in rural areas.”
“The people of Britain deserve fast,
reliable and robust connectivity, and
now the focus needs to be on getting the
infrastructure in place to deliver this.”
Miles Bossom, Founder of Comms
Business
“Entrepreneurs lifetime tax relief cut by
90%! Bad news for those looking to build a
successful business for sale. An extra 10%
tax to the government reducing the reward
for business owners! it will raise £6.3 billion
over 5 years... that seems insignifi cant in
the scheme of things...
This won’t affect really small business
owners as if you sell for less than £1million
you still pay 10%. If you sell for £2million it
will cost you an additional £100k!
It p**ses me off because I believe that
for the huge risk you take when you start a
business you should be rewarded. 90% of
new business fail! FACT.
Some people don’t have what it takes
to start and run a successful business.
Some people are better employees, that’s
not a bad thing, we are all different. All
businesses need good loyal employees.
But it is lonely at the top, entrepreneurs
often risk their family home and
bankruptcy to start a business and the
owner is working 100% of the time, even
when on holiday. It is not all roses.
Good luck to all my friends who are
hoping to exit their business in the coming
years. It is hard to start a business, hard to
run a business and hard to sell a business,
now the rewards have been diminished.”
Chris Bryce, CEO of IPSE (the
Association of Independent
Professionals and the Self-
Employed)
“This Budget is a mixed but overall still
gloomy event for most of the self-employed.
The measures to support the self-employed
and small businesses through the
Coronavirus outbreak are very welcome –
and in-line with what IPSE has been calling
for. However, just as the government tries
to protect freelancers’ incomes with these
measures, it destroys their work by forging
ahead with the disastrous changes to IR35
despite heavy criticism.”
“Despite positive measures to temporarily
support the self-employed through the
Coronavirus outbreak, what Mr Sunak did
not say in his Budget speech was that the
government has confi rmed today that it will
push ahead with the changes to IR35.
“By forging ahead with these disastrous
changes, the government risks hollowing
out the UK contracting industry. Already,
many companies across the UK have either
declared all their contractors ‘inside IR35’ or
scrapped their fl exible workforce altogether.
“Understandably, contractors are
extremely concerned about this. Many we
have spoken to are already seeing work
dry up almost entirely, and our research
shows at least one in three are planning
to stop contracting in the UK. This will be
catastrophic for the £305bn contracting
sector and will do serious harm to the
already troubled economy.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak
40 | Comms Business Magazine | April 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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