Ahead of the Autumn Budget, City Reporter Samuel Norman engages in a Budget Briefing with leading industry figures. This week, the chief executive of founders club Helm advocates for bold innovation policies to take centre stage.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to utilise her second Autumn Budget to make more audacious strides for the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's innovation economy and boost international competitiveness, according to the head of a business founders club, as reported by .
The Chancellor has been advised to eschew gimmick policies and extend her support for start-ups and innovative firms.
Andreas Adamides, the chief executive of the exclusive founders club Helm, told City AM: "The Budget doesn't need a headline gimmick – just a few bold moves that make growth the rational choice again."
The Australian-Cypriot entrepreneur assumed leadership at Helm, previously known as the Supper Club, in 2022 as part of its pandemic recovery. The group was established by Duncan Cheatle in 2003 and aims to assist high-growth scaling firms.
To achieve "long-term competitiveness," Adamides stated that support for innovation and skills must be prioritised when Reeves steps up to the dispatch box on 26 November.
He further added that the Budget must establish solid foundations for future growth plans to prevent "policy whiplash" that "kills confidence faster than any tax rise".
"Scaleups plan on certainty – change the rules mid-cycle and you strangle the very firms creating jobs and exports".
Avoid taxes that 'starve' talent
Adamides has urged Rachel Reeves to avoid repeating the errors of her initial Budget, which had a negative impact on business confidence.
"Avoid National Insurance hikes that punish hiring and any visa tightening that starves talent."
Last year, Reeves increased employer's National Insurance contributions by 1.2 per cent and reduced the threshold for paying the tax from £9,100 to £5,000.
Helm raised concerns about cost pressures following the 2024 Budget, with six out of ten founders stating they planned to "hold off on hiring additional staff due to the employers NI increase."
However, Adamides suggested a bold step to "cut employer's National Insurance on new hires" could stimulate the job market and speed up the growth rate of scale-ups.
He identified the stamp duty on shares as another tax burden undermining the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's global standing.
"A 0.5 per cent friction on every º£½ÇÊÓƵ share trade is a competitive tax," said Adamides.
This comes as expectations rise that Reeves will boost the revival of London's IPO market with reforms to the stamp duty regime.
The Chancellor is believed to be considering a holiday on the shares levy for newly listed companies, effectively eliminating the tax for the first two to three years after a float.
Adamides advocated for an exemption for new listings in an effort to "boost liquidity and valuations", but urged Reeves to go further and "modernise the regime for good".
Innovation beyond AI
He suggested that a simpler and more predictable approach to research and development (R&D) credits would alleviate founders' concerns about access to capital.
In the Spending Review, Reeves revealed an £86bn R&D budget for the next four years, described as a "bumper funding package".
Reeves protected R&D from any spending cuts, labelling Britain as "the home of science and technology" and framing the package around plans to "turbocharge" science and tech.
This move coincided with Prime Minister Keir Starmer's pledge to enhance Britain's AI infrastructure and position the country as an "AI maker, not an AI taker".
However, Adamides argued that if the government truly wanted to stimulate the innovation economy, it needed to look beyond just AI.
Adamides commented: "I found it a little bit odd that there aren't wide appeal wins, there should be ways to support all innovation."
He added that the £86bn funding package would help fuel global competition, but urged the government not to overlook other sectors.
"I think we need to choose more sectors than [life and sciences] that we can compete in globally."
"We're in a strong position and we have some of the world's best universities and a lot of talent here. If we support those areas, we will have a higher chance of success in competing globally."
The entrepreneur stated that "anything that R&D is working on is going to make us more globally competitive and it's going to spark growth".
He further emphasised that embracing widespread innovation and avoiding being "so selectful" would strengthen Britain's position on the international stage.
Recent figures from HSBC's fintech division revealed "renewed confidence" in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's innovation economy, with funding levels rising.
Venture capital interest in º£½ÇÊÓƵ start-ups and scale-ups reached $9bn (£6.75bn) during the third quarter, positioning 2025's year-to-date investment to equal last year's full-year figure of $17.3bn.
