The UK Budget delivered on 26 November 2025, and preceded by an unexpected leak of OBR documents, has prompted strong reactions across retail, fintech, marketing technology and wealth management. Leaders from loyalty, payments, retail integration and global advisory firms shared their views on what the post-Budget landscape now looks like.
Loyalty Tech: Loyalty Moves to the Centre
Attila Kecsmar, CEO and Co-founder, Antavo
Attila Kecsmar says the Budget confirms what many in retail have been preparing for: a prolonged period where resilience depends on deeper customer knowledge and more efficient growth.
“Today’s Budget confirmed what many in retail already knew: the coming months will demand greater efficiency and deeper customer understanding. With consumers watching every penny and operational costs rising, the old levers for growth are becoming less effective. In this environment, loyalty isn’t a marketing nice-to-have; it’s a core business strategy for resilience and predictable revenue.”
He stresses that retailers under pressure need to optimise the value of their existing customers.
“For retailers feeling the pressure, the math is simple: you have to get more value from your existing customer base. This is where loyalty becomes a powerful tool for efficiency. Instead of pouring more budget into acquisition, brands can use loyalty programmes to increase purchase frequency and average transaction value from their most engaged shoppers. It’s about growing value sustainably, not just chasing volume.”
For smaller retailers, he believes the Budget environment may create an opening.
“If smaller retailers see some relief, it creates a unique opportunity to double down on their key advantage: community. Loyalty isn’t just about points; it’s about building genuine relationships. By rewarding local shoppers and creating a sense of belonging, smaller brands can foster a connection that larger competitors can’t easily replicate.”
With household budgets under pressure, he says loyalty’s value proposition becomes even more important.
“With household budgets tightened by frozen tax thresholds, consumers will actively seek out brands that offer genuine value. A well-designed loyalty programme does exactly that. Personalised offers, tiered rewards that make customers feel special, and early access to sales are no longer just perks – they are essential tools for making customers feel seen and valued when their spending power is under pressure.”
Kecsmar also notes that loyalty technology aligns well with the Budget’s emphasis on productivity and digital capability.
“The Budget’s focus on technology is promising, and a reminder to retailers that modern loyalty programmes are data powerhouses. They enable brands to leverage first-party data for smarter targeting, automate personalised communication, and ultimately build a more efficient, resilient business model. This is how retailers can do more with less and thrive in a tough market.”
Fintech: Warning of a Stealth Tax on Growth
Greg Cox, Co-founder and CEO, Quint Group
Fintech entrepreneur Greg Cox cautions that while the government is positioning itself as pro-innovation, its policy choices risk undermining investment and growth.
“The Chancellor claims she is ‘championing innovation’ and ‘backing working people’, yet today’s measures tell a different story. While she faces a difficult balancing act, the government is once again making choices that will weigh heavily on British businesses, especially those trying to grow, hire, and innovate. For a government that says, ‘private investment is the lifeblood of economic growth’, taxing that investment more heavily is a contradictory signal.”
He says the combined effect of tax changes will reduce liquidity and confidence at a critical time.
“Hiking dividend tax, freezing income tax thresholds, and tightening rules on salary sacrifice add up to a stealth tax on growth, squeezing cash flow and increasing the cost of doing business. These policies penalise millions of ordinary savers and early-stage investors, and disincentivise the very risk-takers we need to create jobs and attract investment.”
Fintech firms, he argues, are especially exposed.
“For companies in Fintech – sectors that thrive on investment and reinvestment – these moves risk undermining the very entrepreneurial energy that has made the UK a hub for innovation. Discouraging long-term saving and shrinking the upside for investors will make it much harder to attract risk capital, scale operations, or plan with confidence.”
He welcomes certain measures but says a more ambitious approach is needed.
“That said, challenging times have a way of sharpening resolve. For firms with vision and discipline, this could still be a moment to double down on lean, high-impact strategies. We welcome the expansion of the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme and the UK listing relief. Those incentives matter, and the recognition that scale-ups need long-term support is the right message. To truly compete on a global stage, UK fintech and innovation need a world-beating, simple, and ambitious incentive regime. We hope today is the first step in that conversation, not the end of it.”
Retail Integration: Focus on Practical Transformation
Jim Herbert, CEO, Patchworks
Jim Herbert notes that the OBR’s latest outlook points to sustained pressure on both costs and consumer spending, shaping how retailers will invest in technology in the years ahead.
“The OBR’s latest outlook shows an economy where costs stay high and consumer spending stays tight. The Budget paints a picture of a retail landscape that will stay pressured for longer than many hoped. Growth softens across the decade as productivity is revised down to 1%, with the OBR noting that the rebound everyone expected simply hasn’t arrived.”
He highlights how frozen thresholds affect customer spending power.
“Real disposable income growth drops from three percent this year to around a quarter of a percent a year from next year onwards. Frozen tax thresholds quietly pull almost two million more people into higher rate bands by the end of the decade, adding billions in extra revenue to the Treasury but reducing what people have left to spend.”
Herbert argues that these conditions make traditional, expensive digital transformation programmes much harder to justify.
“In that environment, it becomes difficult to justify large, disruptive technology projects. Integration offers a practical way forward. That’s exactly why a disruptive retail stack using AI lands so well now. You get a far better total cost of ownership because you’re not carrying the weight of legacy systems, custom workarounds or long upgrade cycles.”
He says the priority is tightening operations to reduce waste and support stable customer journeys.
“In a slower economy, controlling the controllables matters. Joined-up systems cut waste, reduce manual effort, keep stock accurate everywhere and stop money leaking through failed orders or broken journeys. When the operational layer is solid, the upsides follow as a natural by-product. Conversion improves, marketplaces scale more smoothly and teams spend less time fixing issues in the background. Retailers that strengthen their operational core through integration will be in a far better position to absorb higher costs, adapt quickly and stay competitive through a tougher economic cycle.”
Wealth Advisory: Concerns About Stability and Mobility
Nigel Green, CEO, deVere Group
Nigel Green delivers one of the strongest responses, beginning with the leaked Budget documents that appeared shortly before the Chancellor’s speech.
“The shambolic leak of the UK budget minutes before the speech underscores a shambolic government whose Budget will ‘drive an exodus of wealth from Britain,’ warns the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.”
He says the leak itself signals weakness.
“You can’t tell the world you want to stabilise the UK economy and then allow the centrepiece fiscal document to appear online by accident. That extraordinary kind of lapse signals operational weakness. Investors and high earners will be seeing it as a warning about the government’s overall direction.”
Green points to the measures outlined in the leaked OBR material and the potential consequences for internationally mobile earners.
“When a government fixes thresholds while inflation and wages rise, it quietly increases tax every year,” he says.
He warns that property-related measures will influence investment decisions.
“A new levy on higher-value homes signals a government willing to target assets whenever revenue is needed. That is enough to shift investment strategies away from the UK.”
On pension-related changes:
“People make long-term decisions about where to work, where to build wealth and where to retire,” he says. “When rules around pensions tighten sharply, it undermines confidence in the broader system. Wealth moves where governments show stability over decades, not sudden extractions.”
His conclusion is stark.
“The documents reveal a government that places the heaviest load on those with the greatest mobility. That is how a wealth exodus from Britain begins. It will not be loud at first. It will be systematic, rational and global.”
The convergence of tech and brands 