Rachel Reeves must not carry on with an "austerity lite" and instead embrace dergulation in her Spring Statement to drive economic growth, a finance boss has said. The Chancellor confirmed yesterday that the Government wants to save 15% from civil service budgets, which she hopes will release up to £2billion. She will lay out her latest policies on Wednesday as the UK's economy struggles.

Nigel Green, CEO of global financial advisory firm deVere Group, said: "Austerity-lite won’t deliver the growth urgently needed. It won’t solve the economic bind Reeves finds herself in: ballooning departmental spending, historic tax levels, and a private sector still absorbing the shock of last autumn’s National Insurance hike - a direct tax on jobs. That increase, framed as a funding fix, has instead made hiring costlier and discouraged expansion. It reinforced a message that the UK penalises work and enterprise at the very moment both are needed most.

Mr Green added: "Deregulation offers the only credible route to shift that narrative. It’s the tool Labour must now wield - fast, boldly, and in full view of the markets."

On February 6, the Bank of England cut interest rates to 4.5% and downgraded its 2025 UK economic growth forecast from 1.5% to 0.75%.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also recently lowered its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2025 from 1.7% to 1.4%.

The deVere Group claimed the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will cut the UK’s expected growth rate for 2025 from 2% to around 1% on the same day as the Spring Statement, delivering "another blow to Reeves".

Mr Green has urged the Chancellor not to waste time, adding: "Deregulation is not about ideology. It’s about necessity.

"It’s the only serious path to restore competitiveness, drive productivity, and signal to global investors that Britain is pro-growth again."

He added: "But for it to work, Labour must stop dithering. The time for pilot schemes and cautious consultation is over. What’s needed is a sweeping, strategic drive to remove barriers, speed up approvals, and give business a clear runway.

"Labour must act - and be seen to act - with urgency."

The expert also warned that Labour has to "win over the private sector", treating business "not as a policy target, but as a partner".

He said: "Industry doesn’t need more rhetoric. It needs certainty, simplicity, and speed. It needs to know that this government won’t default to tax-and-trim orthodoxy, but will back those creating jobs and taking risks."

Citing the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions announced in October, Mr Green claimed the Chancellor's instincts veer towards caution.

He concluded: "If Reeves makes deregulation the foundation of her Budget, she can pivot from playing defence to seizing the initiative.

"But it has to happen now. If Labour misses this moment, it won’t just cost them momentum. It could cost them their economic credibility. Deregulation, done right, could define a decade."