What your business needs to know about the Government's ‘Backing Your Business’ plan

Last week, the UK Government unveiled its new Backing Your Business strategy, a wide-ranging plan to support small businesses across the country. From tackling late payments to unlocking finance and revitalising the High Street, this is the clearest signal yet that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being placed at the centre of the UK’s long term growth strategy.

Here are the key takeaways from the plan, and how they could impact your business in the coming months.

1. Tackling the fundamentals: late payments, red tape and tax modernisation

Late payments are a major issue for small businesses, costing the economy £11bn a year and reportedly shutting down 38 businesses every day. The government plans to legislate what it's calling the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7, giving the Small Business Commissioner more power and introducing mandatory invoice verification timelines.

Also on the cards:

• A 25% reduction in the admin cost of regulation for businesses

• A more digitally enabled tax and customs system (this includes an HMRC’s AI-powered roadmap)

• Faster planning approvals to help small developers and local regeneration

• Practical advice and training to help businesses cut energy costs and prepare for Net Zero

What this means for you: Compliance should be simpler, with less red tape and more predictable cash flow, particularly if your clients include large companies or public sector organisations, where the government expects the biggest improvements.

2. Access to finance: expanded loans and guarantees

Finance access is being supercharged via the British Business Bank:

• Start Up Loans expanded to support 69,000 new businesses

• Growth Guarantee Scheme extended to help smaller firms access loans

• ENABLE Guarantee capacity increased from £2bn to £5bn

• £340m in equity funding to support early-stage, high-growth firms

• A new Code of Conduct on Personal Guarantees for business loans under government-backed schemes

What this means for you: Whether you’re starting out, investing in growth, or managing day-to-day working capital, there will be more government-backed finance available, delivered via high street and alternative lenders.

3. Backing your high street and everyday economy

The plan recognises that small businesses power communities, not just economic figures. New measures aim to level the playing field:

• Permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500k (from April 2026)

• Banning “Upward Only” rent reviews in commercial leases

• Rental auctions to reduce high street vacancies

• Up to 350 local regeneration zones backed by community investment

• 13,000 more police officers and targeted support to combat shoplifting and tool theft

What this means for you: If your business is on the high street, this package is designed to lower fixed costs and give you more negotiating power with landlords, while also making local areas safer to operate in.

4. Future-proofing with skills, digital tools and leadership support

The plan outlines new investments in digital adoption and leadership training:

• Digital adoption pilots and funding for new technologies and automation

• Expansion of the Made Smarter programme

• Enterprise education in schools and a new King’s Award for young entrepreneurs

• A refreshed Growth & Skills Levy, replacing the old Apprenticeship Levy

• £1.2bn extra for training and T-Levels, plus a Business Mentoring Council

What this means for you: Whether you’re looking to train your team, adopt AI tools, or grow your own skillset as a founder, the support landscape is growing, and more tailored to small businesses realities.

5. More opportunities to sell to government and export abroad

The government is also addressing a key pain point: access to contracts and new markets.

• A new Business Growth Service to centralise support and make it easier to find

• Simplified procurement rules and SME-focused contract education

• A new Defence SME Support Centre

• UK Export Finance increased by £20bn, including new tools for small exporters

• A review of how to better support underrepresented founders (e.g., disabled entrepreneurs)

What this means for you: If you’ve never considered exporting, or thought government contracts were out of reach, this plan aims to change that, with support for both sales and compliance.

Why this matters now

"Backing Your Business" is part of a coordinated strategy to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business. With four interest rate cuts now behind us and inflation on a downward path, the government is aiming to accelerate confidence and investment.

At Capitalise, we believe this kind of support only works if business owners actually know it exists, and how to access it. That’s why we’ll continue breaking down developments like this into practical insights, helping you find the funding and support that fits your business.

We’ll also keep working alongside lenders, advisers and accountants to make sure the right opportunities flow through the system, quickly and fairly.

What to watch for next

• Government-backed finance will become more accessible via your bank or finance partner

• Expect more focus on late payment compliance and fairer lending practices

• High street businesses should prepare for lower business rates from April 2026

• Funding for digital tools, energy savings and training will expand

• Export and procurement support will open doors to new revenue streams

Need help making sense of it all, or seeing what’s available for your business today? Get in touch, we'll be happy to help.