Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered a series of measures in his budget speech to encourage business start-ups and the venture capital industry.

At the core of the measures Brown proposed an enhancement to the long-term capital gains tax, which last year he cut from 40p (€0.63) to 10p on business assets. That has now been extended to cover employees in all types of companies, including venture capital and non-trading companies, at the reduced rate of 10p.