Reflections on a Bumper Autumn Budget

For those of us that work in the financial services world, government budgets are arguably the biggest annual event in the calendar and yesterday was certainly no different. The first budget delivered by a Labour Chancellor after 14-years of Conservative-rule was always going to garner a huge amount of media speculation, and the decision by the government to delay the first fiscal statement for nearly four months left ample time for rumours to run wild.

This decision, coupled with Reeves’ announcement ahead of time that there was a £22bn sized hole in the nation’s pockets only added to the media speculation, with articles galore on what taxes were set to be increased and who was set to bear the brunt of the hole plugging.

All of this meant lots of work for us, journalists were especially hungry for stories, analysis and opinions ahead of this year's budget and considerable work was done by the team in the lead up, ensuring our clients were featured prominently in these discussions and those covering the budget were lined up to receive commentary on the day.

Our morning started like any other, with the whole PR team huddled around the high table absorbing the last of the headlines. Come 12:30, Reeves was standing at the dispatch box and poised to put months of speculation to bed. She spoke for just over an hour, and in doing so became the first female Chancellor to ever deliver a budget statement. A historic moment that should be celebrated by all regardless of broader political persuasions.

In the end, we got pretty much what was anticipated, a variety of tax rises worth a whopping £40bn, aimed primarily at the nation's businesses, alongside greater levels of investment into public services with the NHS coming out as a main beneficiary.

Consumers were largely spared of the ‘scarier’ rumours being toted such as changes to the tax-free pensions lump sum or the annual ISA allowance.

Whilst the frenzied activity of PRs and journalists during the statement itself is over, so begins the post-budget era where the media begins to dissect the budget in a surgical fashion, working out what it all means for their readers with insightful views, and number crunching, from across the financial services industry.

And how did the PR team stack up?

• In total the PR team distributed 43 comments from our clients during the budget, generating over a thousand pieces of coverage across national, consumer, regional and trade publications.

• For those of you who read our pre-budget blog, I am also pleased to report our own Ellie, went 3 / 5 on budget day bingo. Had the Chancellor spoken for 21 minutes less and opted for a cup of tea over water then the full house would have been secured! An admirable effort, better luck next time, Ellie.

Catch you all for the craziness next time.