Woodford 'absolutely delighted' with Chancellor's plans for UK start-ups

A 'sensible' Budget

Jayna Rana
clock • 1 min read

Neil Woodford, manager of the £695m Woodford Patient Capital trust, has welcomed yesterday's Autumn Budget announcement of a £2.5bn investment fund to help knowledge-intensive businesses access scale-up capital.

In his first Autumn Budget speech yesterday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced plans to boost investment in Britain's smaller and higher-risk businesses. He said the government is publishing an action plan to unlock over £20bn of new investment in UK knowledge-intensive, scale-up businesses. This will be done through a new fund in the British Business Bank seeded with £2.5bn of public money. Woodford said he is "absolutely delighted about the announcement...

To continue reading this article...

Join Professional Adviser for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
  • Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
  • Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
  • Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
  • Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes

Join

 

Already a Professional Adviser member?

Login

More on Investment

FCA proposes 'targeted and proportionate' changes to listing rules for closed-ended funds

FCA proposes 'targeted and proportionate' changes to listing rules for closed-ended funds

Consultation runs into August

Michael Nelson
clock 26 June 2026 • 5 min read
Big games, big names… and smaller companies

Big games, big names… and smaller companies

'Brazil should be looking to the future rather than to the past'

Gabriel Sacks
clock 22 June 2026 • 4 min read
Why should investors back China in the worldwide robotics race?

Why should investors back China in the worldwide robotics race?

The race to identify Asia's hidden gems

Xin-Yao Ng
clock 19 June 2026 • 5 min read