This week’s news: 23-27 November 2015

What was big news this week?

The big news this week was George Osborne’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday. You can read a summary, watch the speech, and access the full Spending Review and Autumn Statement documents here.

Prior to the Autumn Statement the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales released a statement saying that as much as 84% of accountants in the UK were concerned about new policies that might be introduced; however the ICAEW’s detailed reaction post-statement shows them to be cautiously hopeful about the changes.

Innovate Finance sees a “huge opportunity” for the digital government and payments sector following the statement, and calls the decisions made regarding innovation “better than expected.” Read their full rundown on what the Autumn Statement means for FinTech here.

Meanwhile, business owners “reacted with fury” to the £11.9 billion “payroll tax.” And other changes, including the apprenticeship levy, could cost the economy a further £14 billion, according to estimates from the British Retail Consortium.

GLI Finance released a report saying that lack of awareness of alternative financing options could cost the UK up to £20 billion. The Federation of Small Businesses, British Chambers of Commerce, National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers, Asset Backed Finance Association, Innovate Finance, and techUK all agree. Their solution? Ask the government to “support the implementation of the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act’s mandatory referral scheme with a national awareness raising campaign utilising the principles of behavioural insight (aka ‘Nudge’) in order to change SME behaviour.”