The new Director of Small Business Strategy, Ros Wall, alongside Director Paula Crofts for Business Growth, and Deputy Director John Thompson for SME Strategy and Business Growth Service, have launched the UK Government’s new Small Business Plan – “Backing Your Business”, a major milestone in our Plan for Change and a bold commitment to supporting SMEs across the UK. From faster payments and easier access to finance, to cutting red tape and launching a new Business Growth Service, backing businesses to thrive.

What’s in the Plan?

The Plan is built around five key pillars:

This Plan was shaped by listening to businesses across the UK and reflects their priorities: saving time and money, improving access to finance, and opening up new opportunities.

1. Future-Proofing Business Skills

Help to lead, adapt and grow, including through:

• Launching new Digital Adoption pilots and working with industry to drive SME tech skills.

• Funding leadership and management training and creating a new Business Mentoring Council.

• Backing the next generation of young entrepreneurs, including boosting access to enterprise education and launching a new ‘Youth Entrepreneur’ King’s Awards for Enterprise award.

• £1.2bn more a year for skills, ensuring more of the skills needs of SMEs are met.

2. Fixing the Fundamentals

Making it simpler and fairer to run your business, including by:

• Legislating to end the scourge of late payments which costs the UK economy £11bn per year.

• Modernising the tax and customs system to ease the burden on businesses and save time.

• Supporting firms to decarbonise, alongside lowering energy costs and increased training for retrofit jobs.

• Reducing regulatory admin costs by 25%, saving businesses time and money.

3. Unlocking Access to Finance

Providing more routes to finance, including through:

• 69,000 Start-Up Loans, including new ‘green’ loans, that come with a business mentor.

• Longer-term commitment to the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme.

• A £3bn boost to British Business Bank to help lenders offer more small business loans.

• £340m for regional equity investment, improving access to capital beyond London.

• Delivering a lender Code of Conduct on personal guarantees for government-guaranteed loans.

4. Backing the Everyday Economy

Revitalising our high streets, through tailored support for local businesses, including:

• New licensing framework for local authorities, making it easier to set up or modify cafes & bars.

• New High Streets and Growth Incubators to back local businesses.

• Transforming Business Rates, with permanently lower rates for many Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties from April 2026.

5. Opening Up Opportunities

Making it easier for businesses to grow and expand into new markets, including by:

• Launching the new Business Growth Service to simplify finding advice and support, including a new streamlined digital offer – business.gov.uk.

• Making SMEs a national priority for public sector and government contracts, with Departments setting strong SME targets.

• Supporting under-represented entrepreneurs, including through better data collection.

• Providing better export support and expanding UK Export Finance’s capacity by £20bn.

Find out more about the Plan in this one-page summary (concise overview of the Plan’s key actions and benefits).