Help to Grow: Business courses for small business owners
The Small Business Charter is offering two courses tailor-made for SMEs to help grow your business.
Help to Grow: Management Essentials is a fully funded, online course for sole traders and start-ups. With bite-sized videos and resources, it helps you think strategically and build confidence.
The Help to Grow: Management Course is delivered by industry experts, and includes mentoring and peer networking. It gives you practical tools to:
- boost efficiency
- reach new markets
- scale up
Summary of general updates effective from April 2025:
- The rate of employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will rise by 1.2%, bringing it to 15%.
- The Employer’s NI Secondary Threshold will decrease from £9,100 to £5,000. This change, alongside the rate increase, means a higher NI burden for many businesses.
- The Employment Allowance will increase from £5,000 to £10,500, and the current £100,000 threshold for eligibility will be removed. All other eligibility requirements remain unchanged.
- Income tax and NI thresholds are currently frozen.
- Employer’s NI relief for employing veterans has been extended for an additional fiscal year.
- Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and Small Profits Threshold will increase by 1.7%, following September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate, beginning in the 2025/26 tax year.
- The Married Couples Allowance and Blind Person’s Allowance will be uprated by 1.7% starting from 6 April 2025.
- Abolition of the non domicile regime which is to be replaced with a new exception for foreign income and gains for the first four years of UK residence of an individual coming to the UK on the proviso that they have not been resident in the UK for the last ten years.
- Stamp Duty – The nil rate threshold which is currently £250,000 will return to the previous level of £125,000. The nil rate threshold for first time buyers which is currently £425,000 will return to the previous level of £300,000. The maximum purchase price for which First-Time Buyers Relief can be claimed is currently £625,000 and will return to the previous level of £500,000.
Proposed updates from April 2026:
The Higher Income Child Benefit Charge will be administered on a household basis from April 2026.
The UK government will introduce a flat-rate duty of £2.20 per 10ml of vape liquid from October 2026. This will apply to all vaping liquids, including nicotine-free liquids.