Alex Depledge, the Treasury's entrepreneurship adviser, has criticised the government on the record as she prepares to leave. She told The Sunday Times that ministers treat fast-growing companies as a sideshow while steering public money to traditional industries, City AM reports.
"We treat them as a bit of a sideshow."
"Keeping scale-ups on the fringes underestimates the contribution of our greatest companies, and we need to support and develop them on British shores at all costs."
Depledge was appointed by the former chancellor Rachel Reeves in June 2025. She leaves on Thursday 29 October, the day after the Budget.
City AM also reports a Helm survey of 400 scale-up founders. It found that 73% were "not at all confident" the Budget would be good for business. A group of founders is calling for tax breaks for entrepreneurs who reinvest the proceeds of business sales in other British companies.
City AM says the Chancellor, John Healey, has ruled out a capital gains tax rise and pledged to back entrepreneurs who take risks. The Treasury has not confirmed the capital gains tax rule-out on the record.