Industry experts outline how the Autumn Budget will affect installers and electricians
Posted by: electime 27th November 2025
The government’s Autumn Budget has prompted strong responses from across the energy, construction and skills sectors. Leaders representing small businesses, installers, house builders, apprenticeships and clean energy have voiced concerns about gaps in support, uncertainty for long-term planning and the impact on growth. Others welcomed specific measures but warned that broader challenges remain unaddressed. The following comments outline how organisations across the industry view the Budget’s implications for their workforces, operations and future prospects.
Benjamin Dyer, Founder & CEO of Powered Now:
“At Powered Now, we’re disappointed in the lack of meaningful support for small businesses within the government’s Autumn Budget.
“Despite the fact that small businesses make up over half of the UK economy and serve as the backbone of our communities, the government’s decision to introduce an array of smaller tax changes, rather than one headline change, will only serve to increase the administrative strain placed upon them. Small businesses don’t often have in-house accounting department and owners often have to wear many hats; this creates uncertainty and will make long-term planning harder. The lack of direct assistance for small businesses announced today demonstrates a real disconnect.
“The vast majority of UK’s electrical businesses are small businesses. The measures announced today will do little to alleviate the pressure felt by these companies, many of whom are already grappling with rising costs and growing compliance burdens. The increase to employer National Insurance announced in last year’s budget has already had a devastating impact on SMEs.
“Business owners were hoping for some relief this year, and instead they’re being met with policies that overlook the urgent challenges facing Britain’s small businesses. To encourage growth and innovation, the government must recognise that small businesses need direct, targeted and immediate support, not measures that benefit larger corporations or investors.”
Ian Rippin, CEO at MCS:
“MCS is disappointed by the Government’s decision to end the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) in today’s Budget, which will create substantial challenges for businesses, hinder sector growth, and adversely affect some of the most vulnerable households in the country. Government incentives have played an important role in increasing access to home-grown energy for households across the UK, including under ECO4. With ECO4 now set to end on 31 March 2026 and the Warm Homes Plan not yet published, this lack of continuity in support is likely to create substantial challenges for businesses, hinder sector growth, and adversely affect households that would rely on the scheme. That’s why in our consultation response earlier this year, MCS made the case to extend ECO4 and avoid any hiatus that will cause this kind of damage.
“While we await clarity over the Warm Homes Plan, MCS hopes to see a robust, fully funded offer to ensure that every household that was eligible under ECO4 can continue to access low-carbon energy and that confidence in home-grown energy continues to increase. ECO4 put financial responsibility for the installation of clean heat mechanisms on energy suppliers as a measure to support those in need to be able to access low-carbon technologies and reduce their bills. It is these households who will ultimately lose out. However, the cuts announced today won’t just impact households, it will impact industry growth and countless businesses across the country, including the MCS certified installers delivering installations under ECO4.
“There have been around 20,000 certified solar PV and 10,000 certified heat pump installations under ECO4 since February 2025 alone, showing that the grant has supported wider market adoption of low-carbon technologies as intended. Nearly 400 MCS certified installers are delivering work under ECO4 and will be greatly worried by today’s announcement and the impact it will have on their business.
“While parts of the industry are left with significant uncertainty after today’s Budget, MCS is pleased that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) has not been impacted, despite unhelpful speculation in recent weeks that risked undermining the confidence in home-grown energy that MCS and the wider industry have long been building. Greater certainty over the BUS, which we hope to see more of in the upcoming Warm Homes Plan, will be welcomed not only by consumers, but by the 1,200 MCS certified installers delivering quality installations using the grant.
“As the intended sole certification scheme for clean heat measures under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF), Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG), and the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM), MCS looks forward to continue to support the deployment of clean heat measures across all UK under government schemes.”
Kevin Bird, Co-Founder and CEO of Shocking Energy:
“Today’s Budget reinforces the Government’s commitment to modernising the UK’s energy system, even as households and businesses become more cost-conscious.
For installers, the opportunities remain clear: smart, efficient, compliant renewable installations will be essential in a climate where every pound must work harder. That’s exactly what Shocking Energy enables, fewer delays, lower admin burden, and full visibility across every job.
The Budget also confirms a major shift for EV users, with electric cars expected to pay around 3p per mile from 2028. For contractors relying on EVs for site visits and servicing, this will become another cost consideration – making operational efficiency even more important.
Overall, the Budget underlines the need for leaner, technology-driven operations across the energy sector, and we remain committed to giving installers the tools and support they need to grow.”
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, commented:
“Today’s announcement on landfill tax reform is a big win for small house builders, saving them thousands on new build costs. Alongside this, making apprenticeship training for under-25s in SMEs free from paying in the co-investment sum when hiring under 25’s will be a boost, alongside much needed simplification of the apprenticeship application process.”
Berry continued: “The £48 million investment to boost planning capacity is further positive step. Local planning departments are under immense strain, and this funding will help unlock stalled housing projects, but this seems a small sum of money to fix a very big problem. A well-resourced planning system is essential if we are to meet housing targets, and SMEs must be at the heart of delivery. Supporting small builders to get spades in the ground will ensure Britain gets the high-quality homes communities need.”
Berry concluded: “However, the rise in minimum wage will squeeze bottom lines and the freeze in tax thresholds has the potential to push many builders into a higher tax bracket. It’s also disappointing to see the Chancellor miss the opportunity to back household energy upgrades of any kind, even rolling back on the ECO scheme. Upgrading homes will be vital to keep people warm in winter and cool in summer. This Budget offers welcome steps forward, but overall I can see many builders feeling underwhelmed.”
Lee Wilcox, CEO and Co-founder of On The Tools:
“As the UK’s largest construction community, we hear from trades on site every day. This Budget is asking them to shoulder more risk at the very moment they need stability the most. Higher wage bills, increased National Insurance, and frozen tax thresholds all squeeze the brickies, sparkies and plumbers who already run on wafer‑thin margins, and many will feel they are being taxed for simply keeping Britain’s infrastructure standing.
There are, however, some important green shoots, particularly the £13bn of flexible funding going to seven mayors across England. If those pots are used to back housing, retrofit, regeneration and local infrastructure, it could mean more work, faster decisions and a stronger skills pipeline for trades in every region. I’m pleased to see places like Birmingham and the wider Midlands right at the front of that queue.
Another area of optimism is the £820m youth guarantee and the wider focus on skills and apprenticeships. If that money genuinely reaches small firms and sole traders, not just the big players, it could finally help rebuild the talent pipeline and bring thousands of young people into sustainable careers in the trades. Couple that with ongoing demand in housing, repair, retrofit and energy efficiency, and there is a real opportunity to grow the industry, but only if the government stops treating tradespeople as an afterthought and starts designing policy around what actually happens on site
What this Budget still fails to confront is that tradespeople are people first, in a sector with some of the highest suicide rates in the country. That’s why we’ve launched Project 7k: The Lost City- to fund free therapy and smash the stigma around getting help, and why we will keep pushing for mental health, late payment and security of work to sit alongside tax and skills in every national conversation about construction. If the country wants growth, it has to start by backing the trades properly. Not just in the Budget, but in the reality of life in every yard, every van and every site across the UK.”
Jane Dawson, ECA’s Head of External Affairs:
“Without bolder action from Government, the UK risks falling behind net zero delivery, missing investment opportunities, and limiting economic growth.”
Stephen Melton, Director of Commercial and Compliance at NAPIT, said:
“There are over 20,000 NAPIT members who are electricians and installers of heat pumps, solar PV and EV chargers.
“We have been calling for consistency and certainty for our members and promoting growth opportunities available to them in the transition to Net Zero but it looks like that transition may have stalled.
“We are still waiting for details of the Government’s Warm Homes Plan and Future Homes Standards which are expected before the end of the year.
“Hopefully those details will come soon and will offer some positive news for our members who are on the forefront of the Government’s missions to build 1.5 million new homes and continue the switch away from fossil fuels.”
