The King’s Speech 2026

What the Government’s legislative agenda means for Britain’s entrepreneurs

Today, the Government set out its legislative programme for the new parliamentary session. With 37 bills and draft bills announced, the King’s Speech covers a wide range of measures on economic security, public services, energy, national security and constitutional reform.

For entrepreneurs, the most relevant proposals are those affecting payment practices, regulation, competition policy, access to finance, trade with the EU, cyber security, immigration and digital public services.

Regular readers of our Policy Updates will be familiar with several of the measures announced today. We have already covered the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, the Immigration White Paper, the Small Business Strategy and the Autumn Budget 2025 in previous editions. Today’s King’s Speech turns many of those proposals into concrete legislation.

In this Policy Update, we explain the bills most relevant to Britain’s entrepreneurial community and what they could mean in practice.

(Source: House of Lords)

Late payments and cash flow

The Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill will introduce new rules on business-to-business payment practices. The Government says late payments cost the UK economy an estimated £11 billion each year and lead to the closure of 38 businesses every day. It also says the average business spends 86 hours a year chasing late invoices.

The Bill introduces a 60-day maximum payment term for large companies paying smaller suppliers, mandatory interest on late invoices at eight per cent above the Bank of England base rate and a time limit for raising invoice disputes.

It will also give the Small Business Commissioner new powers to investigate poor payment practices, adjudicate disputes and fine businesses that persistently pay suppliers late or fail to comply with the legislation. The Bill also includes targeted action in construction, including a ban on deducting and withholding retention payments under construction contracts.

For entrepreneurs, the practical significance is cash flow. Longer payment terms and delayed invoices can force smaller firms to use overdrafts, defer hiring or spend management time chasing money rather than winning customers.

Regulation and sandboxes

The Regulating for Growth Bill is intended to modernise the UK’s regulatory system and make it more responsive to new technologies and business models.

It has two main elements. First, it will strengthen the Growth Duty on regulators, giving bodies such as the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Health and Safety Executive a clearer statutory mandate to consider growth alongside their existing objectives. Ministers will also be able to issue strategic steers to define what growth means in specific regulatory contexts.

Second, the Bill will create cross-economy sandboxing powers. These will allow existing rules to be temporarily relaxed, under controlled conditions, so that businesses can test new products and technologies in real-world settings. If trials succeed, the changes could then be embedded permanently into law.

The Government cites potential uses in AI, medical devices, autonomous maritime technology and defence technology. For founders in highly regulated sectors, the main relevance is whether these powers create faster routes to test, prove and scale new products where existing rules were designed for older technologies or business models.

EU trade and market access

The European Partnership Bill will provide the legislative framework for implementing new agreements with the EU, including on food and drink, emissions trading and electricity.

The EU remains the UK’s largest trading partner, accounting for 46 per cent of total UK trade. The Government says the proposed food and drink agreement could add up to £5.1 billion a year to the economy and increase agricultural exports to the EU by 16 per cent. Combined with the emissions trading agreement, the Government estimates the total economic benefit could reach up to £9 billion.

For entrepreneurs trading with the EU, the key issue is whether the new framework reduces the administrative costs, border frictions and compliance burdens that have affected exporters and importers since Brexit.

Competition, mergers and the CMA

The Competition Reform Bill will make changes to how the Competition and Markets Authority operates, particularly on market investigations and merger control.

The Bill will give the CMA Board a role in decisions on mergers and market investigations, with the aim of making accountability clearer. It will also seek to make market reviews quicker and more focused. The Government says that, in most cases, reviews should take no longer than 18 to 24 months, with some completed sooner.

The Bill will also provide more clarity and flexibility in merger reviews, including by clarifying the tests the CMA uses to assess whether it has jurisdiction to investigate a merger. It will also give businesses and the CMA more time at the early stages of an investigation to engage and, where appropriate, agree solutions without moving to a longer in-depth review.

For entrepreneurs, this matters because competition policy can affect fundraising, acquisitions, exits and market entry.

Digital ID and right-to-work checks

The Digital Access to Services Bill will establish the legal framework for a national Digital ID system.

The Government says Digital ID will be free to access and will allow people to prove their identity across public services and parts of the wider economy. One of the first use cases will be digital right-to-work checks by the end of this Parliament.

The Bill will set out how Digital ID credentials can be created, issued, maintained, stored and verified. It will also include provisions on eligibility, public sector use and safeguards.

For entrepreneurs and employers, the main relevance is compliance. Right-to-work checks are a routine administrative requirement for businesses hiring staff. A functioning Digital ID system could change how employers verify workers’ eligibility and how individuals access services. The Bill will also matter to digital verification providers, identity companies and firms building services around public sector data and authentication.

Cyber security and resilience

As we covered in detail in our previous Policy Update, the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will expand the scope of existing cyber security regulations to cover more parts of the digital economy, including managed IT providers, data centres and operators managing smart energy appliances.

Organisations in scope will need to report significant cyber incidents within 24 hours, followed by a full report within 72 hours. Enforcement will also be modernised, including tougher penalties linked to turnover.

For technology companies delivering cloud, SaaS, managed IT or other digital services to regulated sectors, the Bill could create new compliance obligations. It may also affect procurement, contracting and due diligence, as larger organisations seek assurance from suppliers about cyber resilience.

Immigration and international talent

The Immigration and Asylum Bill will bring into law reforms announced in the Government’s Restoring Order and Control statement in November 2025.

The Bill will create a single “core protection” model to replace existing forms of protection, tighten rules around Article 8 applications, establish a new independent appeals body and reform parts of the modern slavery framework.

For startups relying on international talent, the Bill itself is mainly relevant to the wider immigration system rather than specific skilled migration routes. However, as we highlighted in our Immigration White Paper Policy Update, the Government has also signalled reforms to the High Potential Individual, Innovator Founder and Global Talent visas. Those routes will be important for founders, researchers and highly skilled workers deciding whether to build or work in the UK.

Our research has found that 54 per cent of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses have at least one overseas-born founder. The detail of future talent-related immigration reforms will therefore matter for the UK’s startup ecosystem.

Other Bills of note

Several other bills announced today may also be relevant to entrepreneurs and investors.

The Enhancing Financial Services Bill will implement parts of the Chancellor’s Leeds Reforms, including changes to financial regulation, consumer redress, credit unions, SME lending and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.

The Highways (Financing) Bill will introduce a regulated asset base model for major road infrastructure, with the Lower Thames Crossing expected to be the first scheme to use it.

The Energy Independence Bill includes measures on clean power, grid infrastructure, energy bills, home electrification, landlord energy efficiency obligations and the transition away from new oil, gas and coal licensing.

The Nuclear Regulation Bill will implement recommendations from the Nuclear Regulatory Review, with the aim of making nuclear regulation more proportionate, coordinated and outcomes-focused.

The Electricity Generator Levy Bill will increase the Electricity Generator Levy from 45 per cent to 55 per cent from 1 July 2026.

The Civil Aviation Bill will reform airport slots, support airport expansion, strengthen the Civil Aviation Authority’s consumer enforcement powers and support airspace modernisation.

The Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill will provide powers for the Government to nationalise steel undertakings where a public interest test is met, including in relation to national security, critical infrastructure and support for the economy.

What happens next

The King’s Speech sets out the Government’s legislative direction, but the detail will emerge as each bill is introduced and progresses through Parliament.

We will continue to track the measures most relevant to entrepreneurs, including how they affect regulation, access to finance, digital services, immigration, infrastructure, trade and the cost of doing business.

Make sure you are subscribed to all our newsletters to keep abreast of further developments, and stay in touch to let us know what obstacles you are facing.