Small businesses up and down the country will have been waiting with baited breath for the result of this year's Budget announcement and many will now be pleasantly surprised by what they heard.

Chancellor George Osborne took the opportunity of his annual address to the assembled parliament as a platform for calling out to the nation's small business leaders and showing his support for their efforts in helping to drive the economic recovery.

While headline news may have been the doubling of the Small Business Rates Relief – which will help to boost the finances of more than 600,000 UK small firms – other positive measures included:

• Corporation tax cut to 17 per cent from 2020.
• Fuel duty frozen at its current level for the sixth consecutive year.
• Increased spending on infrastructure (HS3 and roads).
• Devolution of powers for local authorities to drive growth in their area.
• An additional £700 million to be spent on flood defences to protect communities and companies across the UK.

Overall, there has been plenty of good news for the nation's small businesses this year.

Responding to the Budget, policy director at the Federation of Small Businesses Mike Cherry stated that many of these changes have long been campaigned for and it is a great pleasure to see these efforts now bearing fruit.

He concluded: "In a Budget constrained by both the need to reduce the deficit and the economic outlook, the chancellor has listened to our calls for the tax system to be made simpler for small businesses and the self-employed, and taken important action on business rates."