Of all the businesses launched on the estate in 2025, small businesses comprised over 60 per cent. These include:

Bonnie Blooms – a boutique florist in Cockfosters

Barberholic – a modern barbershop in Edgware

Jamaica Patty – a Caribbean patty specialist in Farringdon

Joe Blakes – a speciality coffee and artisan bakehouse in Holborn

Celtic Coffee – an artisan coffee spot in West Acton

Across the capital, Places for London continues to unlock the full potential of its estate and is investing £300m to improve its existing estate over the next nine years – helping to give small businesses the best platform to succeed. As part of its Places for Growth initiative, Places for London is providing new incubator space in its Lockton Street Arches to give new local businesses space to develop and grow.

Recently, Places for London recognised some of the best performing businesses across its estate at its second Customer Conference, which was held at The Bike Shed in Shoreditch, another of the many small businesses on its estate.

This year's Small Biz 100, an annual celebration of 100 of the thousands of small businesses all over the UK includes BloomsYard, a café wine bar brand blending modern hospitality with convenience, located within the Places for London estate.

Samantha Bain-Mollison, Head of Retail at Places for London, said: "We are proud to be joining small and medium enterprises across the country in celebrating Small Business Saturday once again this year.

“We are dedicated to working with these type of businesses and love to help them succeed. This year, as with previous years, I look forward to seeing Londoners support the small business in their local areas by choosing to find new places to discover, things to do and places to go.”

Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber, said: “More than half of all London’s jobs are in small businesses, and they are the backbone of our economy. Alongside the Mayor, I am proud to be a champion of our brilliant and innovative small and medium sized companies. As Londoners start their Christmas shopping in earnest, I’d encourage everyone to go and discover some of the excellent gifts and products on offer from small businesses in their local neighbourhood, as we continue building a better and more prosperous London for everyone."

• Sets out the fair choices taken by the government that will cut our debt and government borrowing to help interest rates keep falling.

The Chancellor today unveiled a Budget that takes the fair choices to deliver on the country’s priorities of cutting the cost of living, reducing NHS waiting lists and driving down our borrowing and debt.

Millions of hardworking families struggling with household costs will benefit from Rachel Reeves’ inflation-busting decisions, with decisive action to cut £150 off energy bills, freeze rail fares and a historic move to lift 450,000 children out of poverty.
Despite a decade of damage and historic underinvestment under the previous government which led to a £16 billion downgrade to productivity, the Chancellor was clear she was determined to defy the forecasts and break Britain out of its cycle of decline through stability, investment and reform.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:

I can tell you today that, for every family we are keeping our promise to get energy bills down and cut the cost of living with £150 taken off the average household energy bill from April.

Money off bills, and in the pockets of working people. That is my choice.
Upgrading the UK’s economic growth this year to 1.5% from 1% in the Spring, the government’s fiscal watchdog the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the choices taken in the Budget would reduce inflation to 0.4% next year and cut government borrowing faster than any other G7 country, meaning more money can be spent on vital public services rather than debt interest.
It also said the Chancellor would more than double headroom to over £21.7 billion – providing the stability we need for economic growth.

Cutting the cost of living

The choices the government has made have led to wages growing more in the first year of this government than at any point in the 2010s, but the Chancellor was clear too many families are still struggling with the cost of living which is why the Budget includes a range of measures to cut bills and boost pay packets.
Front and centre of the plans is a move to take £150 off energy bills to lower inflation and ease pressure on family finances. Poorer households will save up to £300 when combined with the Warm Homes Discount.

In a range of further measures designed to ease the cost of living, commuters will save hundreds of pounds on their season tickets after rail fares were frozen for the first time in 30 years. An extension of the temporary 5p fuel duty cut for an extra 5 months, a further fuel duty freeze, and the new UK wide Fuel Finder scheme will save the average driver £89, and boosted pay-packets will give a £900 rise for full time workers on the National Living Wage and National Minimum wage. Full-time workers on the 18-20 National Minimum Wage rate will see a £1,500 rise.
Thanks to the government’s commitment to the pension triple lock for this parliament, pensioners on the full new state pension will receive an extra £575 a year from April 2026.

Cutting waiting lists and protecting vital public services

The Chancellor was clear the government would not return to austerity by slashing public investment or public services which left waiting lists rising and choked off economic growth.
Instead, she committed to maintaining the highest levels of public investment for four decades, protecting the record investment in our NHS that has cut waiting lists by over 230,000, the largest fall in 15 years, and delivered an extra 5.2 million appointments in England.
The Chancellor today stated she will go further, announcing 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres and expanding more services back into communities so people can get better, faster care locally.
Reeves was also clear that the government would be relentless in driving out waste so that every penny of public money is spent wisely. She reaffirmed plans to cut the cost of politics, by abolishing Police and Crime Commissioners and 5,000 councillors which together save more than £250 million over five years while continuing the crackdown on Covid fraud is estimated to deliver almost £400 million.

Cutting Debt

Currently, £1 in every £10 the public sector spends now goes on debt interest - four times what we spend on nurses. The Chancellor made clear there was nothing progressive about this and set out plans to cut borrowing and our debt by spending wisely, reforming welfare and making fair choices on tax.
Her decisions and commitment to her iron clad fiscal rules will mean borrowing will fall in every year, doubling the fiscal headroom to £21.7 billion to secure the public finances.

Driving economic growth

The Chancellor said she was determined to double down on the decisive action to grow the economy and create good jobs, building on the action already taken including increasing public investment by over £120 billion over the Parliament, creating the National Wealth Fund, which has already invested £3.8 billion, backing builders not blockers through the biggest planning reforms in a generation and supporting the expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick airports, plus the construction of Sizewell C.
She announced she would be supporting high streets with permanently lower tax rates for 750,000 retail and hospitality properties and backing entrepreneurs and fast-growing companies with tax breaks to hire and list in the UK.
Other measures to boost growth include funding hundreds more planners across England to supercharge the government’s commitment to build 1.5 million homes, extending the DLR to Thamesmead, unlocking thousands of new homes and jobs and investing further in the Lower Thames Crossing, building the UK’s first Small Modular Reactors at Wylfa on Anglesey, introducing a first-of-its-kind three-year stamp duty holiday for new UK-listed companies, saving firms up to £50 million per year and increasing share prices and reforming ISAs to get more people investing and drive £4 billion of investment into our stock market.

Making the tax system fairer

On tax, the Chancellor set out fair and necessary choices that will deliver on the public’s priorities to cut the cost of living, NHS waiting lists and borrowing. She said she would be implementing the major reforms to protect employees pay slips but also cut their energy bills.

Asking everyone to contribute, the current personal tax thresholds will be frozen from 2028 to 2031, but those with broader shoulders will contribute more through fair reforms previously ducked for too long. Taxes on property, dividend and saving income – which currently face no equivalent of National Insurance – will be increased by 2p, narrowing the tax gap between landlords and tenants, with additional allowances to protect those with small amounts of such income.
A typical family home in England pays more council tax than a £10 million Westminster mansion, so the Budget also introduces a High Value Council Tax Surcharge on homes worth more than £2 million, while protecting those on low incomes.

The Budget also set out reforms to well-intentioned tax reliefs which have seen significantly increasing costs that disproportionately benefit the wealthy. From April 2029, the government will charge employee and employer National Insurance on any pension contributions made via salary sacrifice above £2,000 a year and halve capital gains tax relief for bosses selling their businesses to Employee Ownership Trusts from 100% to 50% to retain a strong incentive for employee ownership while ensuring business owners pay their fair share.

In moves to update the tax system for a modern-day economy the government is introducing a new per mile levy for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, coming in 2028. All cars contribute to wear and tear on our roads, so it is only right that our motoring taxes cover EVs via a modest per mile levy, with extra support to keep EV ownership attractive.
Responding to the significant growth in online gambling which has boosted revenues while increasing social harms, the government will increase online gambling duties, raising more than £1 billion a year. In-person gambling for horseracing will be protected with the government also scrapping bingo duty to recognise the cultural value these provide for millions across the country.

Fuel prices are now at their lowest in real terms for a decade. To support motorists, the government is extending the temporary 5p cut to fuel duty for a further five months until the end of August 2026, as well as cancelling the planned inflation increase for 2026-27. After this extension, the fuel duty rate will gradually return to early 2022 levels.

Reforming welfare

With fairness at its heart, the Budget also set out a series of measures to fix a broken welfare system that has left millions written off as too sick to work.
The historic decision to remove the two-child limit in full from April 2026 will lift 450,000 children out of poverty - the biggest reduction at any Budget this century. Making children poor costs us all in the long run with a child growing up in poverty less likely to work and 25% more likely to be on benefits as an adult.
The Chancellor also announced reforms to Motability, removing luxury cars from the scheme and saving taxpayers £1.5 billion over five years. The Budget also supports the long-term youth unemployed by offering them a guaranteed job instead of benefits and closes the loophole that allows people living abroad to buy a UK State Pension at a reduced rate.
The Chancellor was clear the Budget makes fair but necessary choices – but those choices are for a purpose: building a stronger, fairer country, where living standards rise, child poverty falls, and public services are rebuilt in every corner of Britain.

Islington  grants are available to businesses with a trading address in Islington and less than 50 employees.... 

The council In 2022, ran a similar grant scheme, delivered in partnership with ReLondon. Grants were given to 23 businesses, including Mer-IT, a community interest company that provides training on digital skills and computer repair. They used the funding to help them towards their goal of creating a database of spare parts that can be used for repairs.Mer-IT's Mercedes Oli said: “The grant’s enabled us to be more creative and come up with solutions that we couldn’t have put into practice without the additional funding. We can be more competitive, while keeping our green credentials. “It has strengthened our focus on repairs, which is much more environmentally friendly and means that perfectly usable computers aren’t going to waste.” Businesses can apply now on the council’s website: Circular economy grants | Islington Council This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.... 

Trade

One of the main concerns surrounding Brexit was its potential impact on trade. As a member of the EU the UK enjoyed the benefits of the single market and customs union which facilitated the free movement of goods, services and people within the EU. After Brexit the UK left these arrangements leading to the implementation of new trade barriers and customs procedures between the UK and the EU. This has resulted in increased costs and disruptions for businesses particularly those involved in cross border trade.

GDP Growth

Following the referendum the UK experienced a period of economic uncertainty which had a dampening effect on investment and consumer spending. However the UK economy showed resilience in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote with steady GDP growth. Since then the UK has faced both positive and negative economic indicators influenced by a range of factors including Brexit and global economic conditions. It's worth noting that the COVID 19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the UK and global economies since early 2020 making it challenging to attribute specific economic outcomes solely to Brexit.

Financial Services

London has been a major financial hub within the EU but Brexit has caused some financial services firms to move certain operations and jobs from the UK to other EU countries. This shift was primarily driven by concerns over losing passporting rights which allowed firms in one EU country to provide services across the EU without needing separate authorization in each member state. However London still retains its status as a global financial center and the long term impact on the sector is yet to be fully understood.

Investment and Business Confidence

Uncertainty surrounding Brexit negotiations and future trade relationships has affected business confidence and investment decisions in the UK. Some businesses have delayed or reduced investments while others have opted to relocate their operations or establish new branches within the EU to maintain access to the single market. However there have also been instances of businesses seizing new opportunities arising from Brexit such as increased trade with non EU countries.

Job Market and Labor Mobility

The UK's departure from the EU has implications for labor mobility particularly regarding EU citizens' ability to live and work in the UK. The introduction of a new points based immigration system and the end of free movement has made it more challenging for EU nationals to work in the UK. This may impact sectors reliant on EU workers, such as healthcare, agriculture and hospitality

It's essential to recognize that these points provide a general overview and the full economic impact of Brexit will likely continue to evolve over time. Government policies, trade agreements, global economic trends and other factors will all play a role in shaping the UK economy in the post Brexit era. Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The United Kingdom in orange the European Union (27 member states) in blue a representation of the result of Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020. The UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU. The UK had been a member state of the EU or its predecessor the European Communities, sometimes of both at the same time since 1 January 1973. Following Brexit, EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union no longer have primacy over British laws. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains relevant EU law as domestic law, which the UK can now amend or repeal...The United Kingdom was a member of the European Union (EU) for a total of 47 years. It joined the EU's predecessor the European Economic Community (EEC) on January 1, 1973. The UK remained a member of the EEC until it formally left the organization on January 31, 2020, following the Brexit referendum in June 2016 and subsequent negotiations between the UK and the EU. This period of membership lasted nearly five decades, during which the UK participated in various aspects of EU governance, trade agreements, and policies...