The focus of the discussion around the UK government’s Small Business Plan has been the late payment legislation, which is a significant change to address an extremely common issue for small businesses. 

But the plan also includes measures to aid small businesses to grow, develop and bring on new skills. Here are some of the most useful practical elements of the plan.

More finance options

According to government research, lenders are not willing to finance SMEs – which includes new businesses – as they are generally risk averse. This meant that businesses have been struggling to access finance. The UK now has one of the lowest levels of business borrowing in the G7, with just 1.5% of UK SMEs applying for bank loans, compared with up to 22% in major EU countries. 

Personal guarantees may be being used as a substitute for proper risk assessment, which concerns small business owners, acting as a deterrent to seeking finance. 

The government response is to;

• increase the total financial capacity of the British Business Bank to £25.6bn; 
• expand the Start-Up Loans programme to offer 69,000 loans with mentoring over the next four years; 
• increase the capacity of the ENABLE Guarantee scheme by £3bn and provide a longer term commitment to the Growth Guarantee Scheme; and
• work with regulators to ensure the growth of these new models of stakeholder banking is encouraged.

Regarding the concerns around personal guarantees, the government is creating a mandatory Code of Conduct for accredited lenders using the Growth Guarantee Scheme through the British Business Bank. This will include rules to make sure that use of personal guarantees is fair and transparent. It also plans to work with UK Finance to ensure that other institutions use personal guarantees “responsibly”. This will also involve educating business owners’ knowledge about accessing the right finance options for them. 

Regional founders and business owners from underrepresented backgrounds face their own challenges when it comes to accessing finance. The government is responding by:

• responding to the findings of the Lilac Review, including by continuing to grow the reach of the Disability Finance Code for Entrepreneurship;
• creating a new £400m Investor Pathways scheme, expanding support to diverse angel networks through new Angel Syndicate Support and Embracing Diversity programmes, and by supporting the Invest in Women Taskforce and other initiatives;
• extending the British Business Bank’s Regional Angels Programme and Nations and Regions Investment Fund, and by building on the Industrial Strategy with dedicated Cluster Champions. 

More access to skills 

The government has made clear its desire to see the UK improve its digital skills across the board. For small businesses, the government is offering measures and initiatives to help them adopt new technologies and find staff with the skills they need.

Some of this will not have much impact in the short term, with pledges to work with the private sector to develop artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and digital adoption initiatives. Professional and business services sector SMEs will get a new tech adoption scheme, and the Made Smarter Adoption programme will expand to include SME manufacturers. The Help to Grow: Management scheme will be able to support SME leaders to develop digital skills. 

When it comes to access to skills for staff, the government is providing £1.2bn investment in skills per year by 2028-29, which will improve the skills pool in the medium term. More immediate is the launch of shorter and foundation apprenticeships from August 2025 and, from April 2026, short courses for digital skills, AI and engineering will be available in England. A flexible Growth and Skills Levy will replace the current apprenticeship system. 

An Employer Support Fund for SMEs, available in the 2025/26 financial year, can assist with costs associated with hosting T Level placements.

Growth support 

Facing criticisms of the complexities of the business support landscape, the government has launched the Business Growth Service as a central source for business support. This has been integrated with local Growth Hubs to help deliver on a local level. It will be delivered through a combination of partnerships with devolved governments, public bodies and the private sector. 

The government is also looking into creating One Login equivalents on gov.uk for businesses, allowing them to access all government services in one place. 

Start-ups in tech and other fast-growing sectors will get additional support through a new scale-up offer from the Department for Business and Trade. Along with that, a growth-support scheme will be available through Innovate UK. 

Innovate UK’s Business Growth service already includes the investment readiness pathway Invest-Ability and the Scaleup Programme, which provides one-to-one support for scaleups. 

At ICAEW’s recent Scale-Up Live event, delegates highlighted access to funding as a principal ongoing challenge and a priority for the government, says ICAEW’s Head of Business Simon Gray. “It’s good to see the Small Business Plan address this concern and other ongoing challenges, including skills and growth support, along with initiatives to simplify access.”

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