The 28 October Budget: why it matters for your finance hiring
28 October. That's Budget day — Chancellor John Healey's first, confirmed in mid-September. Three things in it already touch your hiring: minimum wage, the Employment Rights Bill, business rates. None of them wait for the day itself to start costing.
Already locked in
£12.71 an hour. That's the minimum wage since April 2026 — 4.1% up, already in every payroll run this year. And from 2029, NI kicks in on salary-sacrificed pension contributions above £2,000. Announced back in 2025 but it still catches people out.
The number to budget for now
April 2027's rate isn't confirmed — the Low Pay Commission reports later this year — but its own modelling points to about £13.18 an hour. Another 3.7% up. We've written before about [how these rises are closing the gap between entry-level and management pay faster than most employers notice](/company/blog/squeezeflation-finance-pay-2026). Worth planning for now, so it's one less scramble later.
The Employment Rights Bill's real cost
£5bn a year — that's the number that made headlines. £1bn — that's the government's own refined estimate, after the Act actually passed. Either way: tighter rules on zero-hours contracts, holiday pay, sick pay enforcement are coming. They will hit payroll whichever figure turns out true.
Rates and pensions: one to ignore, one to flag
New business-rates multiplier from April 2026, but only on £500k+ rateable value properties — mostly big distribution warehouses. Not your building? Not your problem. What is your problem: that £2,000 pension cap, three years out. Old news, easily forgotten. Flag it now, not in 2028.
The good news nobody's covering
Every Budget headline is about cost. Here's the exception. KPMG and REC's September jobs report: permanent placements up nationally for the first time since 2022. Accounting/Financial — one of only two sectors actually growing. Midlands placements rose too, while the South and North fell. [We flagged the regional lag back in August](/company/blog/west-midlands-finance-jobs-market-2026) — looks like it's closing. Hiring in finance right now? You're in one of the only pools getting bigger.
Before 28 October
It's worth modelling your costs against £13.18 for now — the confirmed rate won't land in time anyway. Work out whether the Employment Rights Bill actually changes hiring plans — [same call as temp versus permanent](/company/blog/temp-or-permanent-finance-hire). And if you're hiring into a growing market, the risk isn't the Budget. It will be moving too slowly.
No reason to freeze hiring till Budget day passes. Just know your numbers first. Want a straight read on what this means for your team? That's what we're here for.