Cut Employer National Insurance, Founders Tell Chancellor

• Cutting employer National Insurance is founders’ top Budget ask (51%), followed by lower Capital Gains Tax (42%)
• 78% of founders expect the taxes they pay to rise at Wednesday’s Budget; just 3% expect a cut
• 61% expect the Budget to be bad for entrepreneurs, against 7% who expect it to be good
• 89% now take a negative view of the level of UK taxation, matching the highest since the survey began
• Nearly a quarter (23%) expect to leave the UK in the next 12 months, up from 17% in June

LONDON, UK – Britain’s founders are bracing for higher taxes at Wednesday’s Budget, with more than three-quarters (78%) expecting the taxes they pay personally or on their business to rise. That is according to new polling of UK entrepreneurs by Public First for The Entrepreneurs Network, run in partnership with Blick Rothenberg.

Six in ten (61%) expect the Budget to be bad for entrepreneurs, while just 7% expect it to be good. Founders are less gloomy than they were before last year’s Budget, when 82% expected a bad outcome and 88% expected to pay more tax. But their view of the tax system itself is as bad as it has ever been.

What founders want

Asked to choose up to three changes they would most like to see in the Budget, founders put cutting employer National Insurance contributions at the top (51%). This was followed by lowering Capital Gains Tax rates (42%), raising the Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) lifetime limit above £1 million (36%), reducing employers’ obligations under the Employment Rights Act (35%) and lowering the main rate of Corporation Tax (35%).

What founders fear

The same two taxes top the list of changes founders least want to see. Raising employer National Insurance contributions (47%) and raising Capital Gains Tax rates (46%) were the most common choices. They were followed by further rises in dividend tax (40%), an exit tax on unrealised gains for people leaving the UK (30%), cutting SEIS and EIS tax relief (28%) and raising the BADR rate above 18% (26%).

Views on tax at their worst

Nearly nine in ten (89%) founders now take a negative view of the level of taxation in the UK, up from 82% in June and matching the previous high of 89% in February–March. The share who are “very negative” has risen from 49% to 59% in four months.

Founders also feel unheard. 88% disagree that the government understands the needs of entrepreneurs, another high for the survey, and 79% say life as an entrepreneur has become harder since they started their business.

Heading for the exit

Nearly a quarter of founders (23%) expect to leave the UK in the next 12 months, up from 17% in June. Nearly one in five (18%) expect to sell their business or their stake in it, up from 15%.

Confidence has slipped too. 58% of founders are optimistic about the next 12 months for their own business, matching the lowest figure since the survey began in May 2025. More than three-quarters (78%) are pessimistic about the outlook for the British economy.

Still building

Despite this, many founders are still planning to grow. Nearly half (49%) expect to raise new investment in the next year and 45% expect to increase headcount, though the share expecting to cut jobs has risen from 10% to 14% since June.

Politics

The Conservatives have extended their lead as the party founders trust most to understand entrepreneurs, rising from 30% in June to 41%. Labour is on 8%, and 27% trust none of the parties. Asked which leader they would trust most to support entrepreneurs, 40% chose Kemi Badenoch and 16% Andy Burnham.

Philip Salter, Founder of The Entrepreneurs Network, said:

Founders are going into this Budget expecting to pay more. Nine in ten now take a dim view of the level of tax, and nearly a quarter expect to leave the UK within a year. That should worry anyone who wants Britain to grow

The message from entrepreneurs is clear. Cut the cost and complexity of employing people and don’t hike taxes. This would do more than anything else to show founders that Britain wants them to build here and stay here.

Malli Kini, Partner, Entrepreneurial Services co-lead, Blick Rothenberg, said:

Business owners are the growth engine of the UK economy, and many still want to grow, with more than four in ten planning to hire. But the cost of taking on staff is one of the first things our clients raise with us, and nearly one in five founders now expect to sell up. Easing employer National Insurance, alongside certainty on Capital Gains Tax, would give founders every reason to keep building here in the UK

The survey was conducted by Public First, which polled 229 UK founders online between 9 and 26 October 2026.

Key findings (Wave 5, October 2026)

78% expect the taxes they pay personally or on their business to rise at the Budget; 13% expect them to stay the same and 3% expect a cut.

61% expect the Budget to be bad for entrepreneurs; 24% neither good nor bad; 7% good. Before last year’s Budget the figures were 82% bad and 1% good.

Changes founders most want (up to three): cut employer National Insurance (51%), lower Capital Gains Tax (42%), raise the BADR lifetime limit above £1 million (36%), reduce Employment Rights Act obligations (35%), lower Corporation Tax (35%), more generous R&D tax relief (29%).

Changes founders least want (up to three): higher employer National Insurance (47%), higher Capital Gains Tax (46%), higher dividend tax (40%), an exit tax on unrealised gains (30%), cuts to SEIS and EIS relief (28%), a BADR rate above 18% (26%).

89% take a negative view of the level of UK taxation (59% very negative); 70% are negative on regulation.

88% disagree that the government understands the needs of entrepreneurs; 79% say life as an entrepreneur has become harder.

58% are optimistic about their own business over the next 12 months; 78% are pessimistic about the British economy.

23% expect to leave the UK in the next 12 months; 18% expect to sell their business or stake; 49% expect to raise new investment; 45% expect to increase headcount.

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