Chancellor Rachel Reeves should use the Autumn Budget to spell out how the government plans to deploy the £2 billion earmarked for the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, according to leading audit, tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.
Evelina Panchal, a director at the firm, said businesses urgently needed clarity on how the funding would be allocated, arguing that proper investment planning could unlock transformative gains for the economy.
“Research from Microsoft suggests AI represents a £550 billion opportunity for the UK over the next decade,” she said. “To support the tech sector, Rachel Reeves should confirm how the £2bn commitment will be used.”
The AI Opportunities Action Plan, announced in the 2025 Spending Review, aims to strengthen the UK’s national AI infrastructure and includes proposals for AI Growth Zones, where planning rules would be relaxed to speed up the development of data centres and compute facilities. Panchal said tech firms needed specifics around timelines, locations and access if they were to benefit from the programme.
The tech sector contributed £71bn to the UK economy in 2023 and employed 1.77 million people in 2024. Panchal said the potential impact of the £2bn investment depended heavily on how fast the money was released and whether the government delivered a detailed roadmap.
“Infrastructure gaps, skills shortages and slow business adoption remain the biggest challenges,” she warned. “Reeves must set clear timelines and implementation plans.”
Panchal also urged the Chancellor not to introduce changes in the Budget that could undermine the UK’s attractiveness as a hub for digital entrepreneurship.
She said share-based incentive schemes such as Enterprise Management Incentives (EMIs) — widely used in the tech and AI sectors — must not be restricted, as they are critical to attracting specialist talent in a competitive global market.
“Rachel Reeves should not introduce any further changes to Capital Gains Tax, exit taxes or wealth taxes,” she added. “If she does, it risks killing off the remaining entrepreneurial spirit in the tech sector, with negative consequences for innovation and economic growth.”
She said the UK needed to remain “a supportive and fair environment for tech companies and their founders” to ensure they continue to operate in Britain, bringing essential investment, jobs and revenue.
