Buckinghamshire Growth Plan

Buckinghamshire Council has launched its new Economic Growth Plan for 2025–2035, setting out a bold vision to boost the county’s economy over the next decade. 

The Plan aims to deliver annual productivity growth above 2% by 2035, focusing on high-value sectors such as space, creative industries, high-performance technology, and life sciences. It also includes valuable, targeted support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through business development programmes and strategic partnerships. 

Alongside the plan, the county’s Investment Pipeline was launched – a portfolio of major projects designed to attract public and private investment. Key projects in this pipeline included: 

• Westcott Space Cluster – A national hub for advanced space technologies and a National Drone Centre of Excellence. 
• Silverstone Technology Cluster – A global centre for high-performance engineering, including a proposed Silverstone Incubator Village. 
• Pinewood Studios & Creative Cluster – Home to the upcoming CoSTAR National Lab, an R&D facility that will put the UK at the forefront of immersive storytelling technologies.
• Town centre regeneration – Major redevelopment opportunities in Aylesbury and High Wycombe town centres.

Learn all about Buckinghamshire Council's Economic Growth Plan here >

Download the plan here (PDF) >

Local Plan for Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire Council has opened a public consultation on the draft Local Plan for Buckinghamshire. The vision for the local plan includes several objectives relevant for local businesses, and the economic growth of the county.

The Local Plan can only deliver these objectives if Buckinghamshire council has good quality intelligence from businesses, allowing them to determine the locations for infrastructure, housing, and employment land for key sectors. Furthermore, it is important that the economic contribution of SMEs, and businesses outside of these priority sectors, are recognised as part of the local plan.  

BBF encourages businesses to engage with the local plan consultation, to ensure that the planning system can serve the interests of the local business population, as well as local residents, and delivers productivity driven economic growth.

Learn more about the Local Plan and how to respond >

Have your say on late payments via government consultation

The UK Government is seeking views on a package of proposed legislative measures to address late, long and disputed business to business (B2B) payments. The consultation will run until 23rd October 2025.

The proposals aim to improve cash flow through supply chains and support small businesses with payment disputes. Views are welcome from all businesses, trade representative organisations, member organisations and interested parties to the proposals.

Businesses can read the consultation questions and submit their response online. To read the full consultation document and find more options on how to respond, click here.

Buckinghamshire Business First's response

Buckinghamshire Business First has already fed back its response on behalf of Buckinghamshire businesses, based on feedback from businesses and our Board.

A summary of our findings and response is below:

Businesses are generally able to resolve late payment issues themselves, applying interest charges on late payments to incentivise prompt payment, and negotiating payment terms directly with suppliers, at their discretion.

However, major concerns arise when:

• Large businesses unilaterally extend payment terms mid-contract, without facing penalties. 
• Businesses exploit the appeals process to delay or avoid payment. 
• Businesses engage in illegal phoenixing - closing and reopening businesses to escape debt obligations. 

These practices result in significant legal and debt recovery costs for small businesses, threatening their survival and growth.

Buckinghamshire Business First recommendations: 

• Introduce enforceable penalties for businesses that delay or refuse to pay suppliers, using the Small Business Commissioner if necessary. 
• Incentivise swift resolution of payment disputes and limit abuse of the appeals process. 
• Avoid imposing increased reporting requirements or excessive government intervention on small businesses, due to the cost of the administrative burden.

Have your say: Businesses can read the consultation questions and submit their response online. To read the full consultation document and find more options on how to respond, click here.

Claimant count data

In August 2025, 11,025 Buckinghamshire residents were claiming benefits due to being out-of-work, or working below the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) (equivalent to 18 hours per week at the National Living Wage).

This equates to 3.2% of working-age residents, which is slightly higher than the regional average (3.1%), and below the national average (4.1%). This is slightly higher than the 3.0% rate recorded in August 2024. Historically, Buckinghamshire's claimant rate has been lower than the regional average. 

Within the county, the claimant rate is highest (and above the national average) in the Wycombe parliamentary constituency area. 

For more information, visit the Buckinghamshire Economic Intelligence Observatory.

Payrolled employees

Using the latest figures for payrolled employment, with seasonal adjustments, payrolled employment in Buckinghamshire decreased by 224 from July 2025 to August 2025. Unadjusted, payrolled employment decreased by 1,317 from July 2025 to August 2025. 

Since the Autumn budget in October 2024, payrolled employment has decreased by some 1,512, adjusting for seasonal effects. This was a slightly faster rate of job losses than the national average, with employment down 0.6% compared to 0.5% nationally. Unadjusted, payrolled employment decreased by 1,106.

However, it should be noted that this only includes payrolled employees. Figures from job search engine Adzuna suggest that more companies are looking for self-employed contractors since the rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions took effect in April 2025, using freelancers on a “try before you commit” basis. Therefore, we will only be able to make firm conclusions on workforce and employment rates once Annual Population Survey results are published for Buckinghamshire.

Metrics	UK	Buckinghamshire
Net change in payrolled employees, October 2024 to August 2025	-152,637	-1,512
% change in payrolled employees, October 2024 to August 2025	-0.50%	-0.58%

Source: Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, seasonally adjusted, ONS

Want more research and analysis on Buckinghamshire's economy?

Visit our dedicated Reports and Analysis webpages for the latest insights on the Buckinghamshire economy and workforce, and the effect of policy decisions on our local business community.

Buckinghamshire Business First is the primary source of insights from the business coalface. This intelligence is used to ensure strategies and policies are based on robust evidence and to ensure government at all levels is aware of the economic issues facing Buckinghamshire’s communities.