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Spring Budget tech policies ‘solid’ but not ‘game-changing’

Tech Spring Budget
Image credit: HM Treasury / Flickr

The tech policies announced during Wednesday’s Spring Budget were generally welcomed by the tech community but a lack of radical changes left little to wow the industry.

Items on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s tech agenda included further funding for AI research and upskilling, an investment commitment to scale R&D and manufacturing, increased support for regional investment zones, further reforms to move pension cash into startups and the reversal of the controversial change to angel investment qualification.

Angel investor backtrack welcomed

The tech community has welcomed the decision to reverse the increased income threshold required to qualify for investment protections as an angel investor.

The U-turn, which came as a result of repeated lobbying from the likes of InvestHER and the Startup Coalition, will return the income requirement from £170,000 to £100,000. This will re-open investing opportunities for many angels but in particular women, who were cut off when the rules changed at the end of January....