![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-1239759237-1.webp\")
\t\tBusiness chiefs were left unamused by Budget policies. \t<\/p>\n\t\t\tMonday 01 December 2025 6:00 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tSaturday 29 November 2025 10:12 am\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tShare<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Facebook\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tX\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Twitter\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on LinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tWhatsApp\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on WhatsApp\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Email\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\tBusiness chiefs were left unamused by Budget policies. \t<\/p>\n
Business confidence in bosses\u2019 own organisations fell to the lowest level in over five-and-a-half years after the Budget, a leading survey has suggested, as the absence of growth policies in Rachel Reeves\u2019 statement dampened leaders\u2019 moods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Institute of Directors\u2019 monthly survey indicated bosses were fearing for the worst after last Wednesday\u2019s much-anticipated event<\/a>, with key metrics about businesses\u2019 performances dropping to five-year lows.\u00a0<\/p>\n After the Budget was delivered, business confidence in organisations\u2019 own growth sharply dropped to -20 from -5 in a survey held before the statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was the second-lowest reading since April 2020, a month into the first lockdown.<\/p>\n The set of data gathered after last Wednesday provides another damning assessment of Reeves\u2019 Budget after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)<\/a> said none of the growth-focused policies in the statement would boost output.\u00a0<\/p>\n Growth predictions were also downgraded across the entire forecast period, which is likely to keep businesses on edge about their prospects.\u00a0<\/p>\n In its headline metric, overall business confidence about the UK economy in a snap poll after the Budget barely changed, inching up by one point from -73 to -72, demonstrating the sense of peril directors are left in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Budget fails to ease cost expectations<\/p>\n IoD researchers also showed that revenue expectations fell into negative territory at -8, which was the lowest reading since September 2020 while the net balance for investment intentions dropped to -39, the second lowest reading on record after May 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tBusiness confidence at \u2018rock bottom\u2019 as tax rumours spook directors<\/a><\/p>\n Headcount expectations falling to -29, near levels seen during the pandemic, could also alarm Labour officials given they have made growing the UK economy their central mission in government.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Budget statement, which was focused on curbing the cost of living and setting the conditions for lower borrowing costs, failed to dramatically ease cost expectations as the net balance reading remained high at 82.\u00a0<\/p>\n Firms said employment taxes and business taxes were among the top three factors hampering activity, with the UK\u2019s poor economic conditions topping the list.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anna Leach, chief economist at the IoD, said the fact that four in five business leaders viewed the Budget negatively meant it was \u201cno surprise\u201d that confidence<\/a> metrics remained at near-record lows.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe message from this Budget is that work remains to be done to lift the UK\u2019s growth prospects,\u201d Leach said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe immediate outlook for business investment and employment has weakened further, and that will require further attention.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of last week, the Lloyds Bank business barometer<\/a>, which has tended to offer more sympathetic readings of business confidence, showed hiring intentions and trading prospects among organisations dropping in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n Its survey said business confidence had dropped over the course of the month, though it remained above long-term averages.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n