The Budget - March 2021

I think it’s fair to say that being Chancellor over the last 12 months has been a pretty hard job. In today’s budget the Chancellor cut a fine line in continuing to provide much needed support for UK businesses to help them get back on track as the economy emerges from the pandemic, whilst attempting to balance the books over the longer term. A number of Gallagher employees, and their families and friends have been personally affected by COVID-19, as likewise have clients both from a personal and financial perspective, so I am sure I speak for many when I say it’s been a tough year.

 So I am very pleased that it feels that we are on the ‘home straight’ with the roll out of the vaccine going so well and from an economic outlook, it is positive to see that the Government’s predicted timeline to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels has shortened to mid- 2022.

 This is positive news for our clients who have been impacted by the continuing economic uncertainty.

 Many clients, particularly in the SME space, who are looked after by our retail operations teams, will be positively impacted by the extension of existing support, such as the continuation of the furlough scheme and the freezing of business rates, plus the launch of the Government’s newest initiative, the Restart Grant.

 Our clients in those sectors most affected such as hospitality, leisure and retail will also be pleased to hear they are the recipients of increased levels of support. Most UK businesses have been impacted in some way by the pandemic and we have done our upmost to support our clients since the start of the pandemic to help them manage the risks that they have faced over the last 12 months.

 Of course, with the current levels of financial support it was inevitable that there would need to be tax rises over the longer term – balancing the support businesses are currently able to access.

 We will continue to do what we can to support our clients in managing their risks as we emerge into this next phase.

Budget: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/budget-2021-what-you-need-to-know