In his recent Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the Government will be launching a successor to the successful Future Fund scheme and will be replacing the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) – which are all due to end on 31 March 2021 – with a new Recovery Loan Scheme. Both schemes will cultivate innovation, investment and growth throughout the UK economy.

The proposed National Security and Investment Bill was given its first reading in Parliament on November 20^th, this new bill is designed to protect national security and protect the UK’s infrastructure. In short, if passed, the Bill will allow the Government “powers to investigate and intervene in potentially hostile foreign direct investment.”

In the early months of 2020 and during Covid lockdown, access to capital for early-stage and scaling businesses became more difficult as investors’ risk appetite waned due to the unprecedented uncertain economic conditions only a once-in-a-century global pandemic brings to an economy.

The Chancellor has been phenomenally generous since the outbreak of the Coronacrisis. Of course, it is easy to be generous with other people’s money -  our money.  Much of it is borrowed with the rest being diverted from other places that also desperately need it.

With the cancellation of the Autumn Budget the eyes of tax advisers have quickly shifted to the Spring Budget, with many commentators anticipating major changes to the Capital Gains regime.