The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is asking the government to reverse the National Insurance (NI) tax hike ahead of the Autumn Budget.
Its polling results showed that three-quarters of business leaders would be more likely to invest in the UK following a NI rise reversal. A further 74% said the move would positively impact their business. Over 500 UK business owners were polled in the LCCI and YouGov survey.
The LCCI has shared its figures with HM Treasury in its Budget submission, arguing the NI hike, which was introduced in 2024 and implemented mid-2025, has led to increased costs for businesses and consumers, making growth and access to entry-level jobs more difficult.
Its calls for the NI hike reversal forms part of a broader set of demands by the LCCI to encourage business growth. These include; a business rates reform and a higher-rate threshold that doesn’t unfairly target high street businesses in high property price areas, abolishing Sunday trading laws to allow businesses to open past 5pm, restoring VAT-free shopping, establishing a five-year ‘Listing Holiday’ exemption from Stamp Duty Reserve Tax on shares in companies newly listed in London and tax incentives for companies that relocate their primarily listing to London, plus extending the R&D tax relief regime to support AI adoption.
Statistics already point to the negative impact of the National Insurance rise on the UK business community. According to data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), UK payrolled employee jobs dropped by 167,000 between October 2024 and April 2025, with UK businesses facing some £25 billion in annual costs due to NI increases.
Karim Fatehi OBE, Chief Executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the LCCI results prove what the business community had been saying for a while about the NI hike. “The previous administration’s Employer National Insurance increase did real damage to businesses,” he stated. “It knocked their confidence, making them reluctant to invest, hire, and grow.”
He also said a NI hike reversal would lower business hiring costs and welfare burdens by reducing the number of people not in education, employment or training (NEET). “That is why we are calling on the new Chancellor of the Exchequer to reverse this damaging tax increase and deliver a Budget that backs the job creators, rather than raiding them to balance the books.”
