The Deputy Speaker’s: “Could you please shout more quietly”, as she asked MPs to reduce their volume during the Spring Budget Speech, is the opposite of what we should be doing to champion the UK’s high growth tech companies.

As the Chancellor introduced plans to attract more investment, he said that: “the UK is on track to become the world’s next Silicon Valley”. He says he wants entrepreneurs to not just start here, but to stay here, especially when it comes to listing on the stock market. He says they are looking at building on reforms to unlock more pension capital and make it easier for pensions funds to invest in the UK.

Recently, we have seen a championing of the technology space, with Rishi Sunak opening procedures at last year’s London Tech Week with a very positive message for the sector. In what was a generally positive Budget for the high growth technology sector, there were a number of highlights:

• New measures were announced to encourage investment in UK listed companies – the so-called British ISA in the form of an extra £5,000 tax-free allowance for the public to invest exclusively in UK and the move to force local authorities and pension funds to disclose how much that have invested in UK shares
• The reduction in the National Insurance burden for employees should make it more attractive for international companies to bring executives to the UK and new arrivals will still not pay tax on foreign income and gains for their first four years of UK residency
• The use of technology to streamline our public services was well trailed but is very welcome alongside some of the other measures which together will boost an already high growth sector
• The Chancellor explained that the Treasury will prioritise digital projects with the use of AI, drones and automation
• The Chancellor stated that the “ground-breaking” agreement with the NHS for digitisation can be mirrored in education, the police, courts and local government – and will make services “more efficient”
• The investment needed to modernise NHS IT systems will cost £3.4 billion but it is hoped that will unlock £35billion of savings, making the NHS “the largest digitally integrated healthcare system in the world”

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