12 March 2008

Our immediate reaction to the Budget Speech is one of disappointment with a degree of caution. As ever the devil will be in the 200 page Red Book. The Chancellor as widely predicted had little scope in this Budget – constrained as he is by counter cyclical public spending during the boom times.

The economic forecasts in the speech were a little better than expected but not enough to divert attention of markets from the activities of the Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England; although the Chancellor did signal that interest rates were unlikely to come down significantly any time soon in the UK, where they are comparatively higher. This is not cheering for anyone.

For private investors the die was cast for this Budget in the Pre-Budget Report last October – when sweeping changes to Capital Gains Tax for entrepreneurs and employee investors were announced. Despite remorseless campaigning against the measures they have been confirmed today virtually unchanged. This has led to many investors seeking to dispose of affected shareholdings before the end of this month, to take advantage of the 10% tax rate that was introduced to encourage entrepreneurialism.

The Non Dom charge was also confirmed which has depressed the City, believing that it may damage our position as the leading international financial centre in the world.

ISA limits for 2008/09 were confirmed and so the only thing that private investors have to look forward to is the flat 18% tax on Capital Gains over the increased annual CGT exemption limit of £9,600 from 6 April.

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For more information, contact Charlotte Black on 0845 213 3331, or charlotte.black@brewin.co.uk

Notes to editors

Brewin Dolphin Limited (“BD”) is the principal operating company of Brewin Dolphin Holdings PLC which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. BD is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

BD is the largest independent private client investment manager in the UK. The Group manages £21.6 billion of funds for over 120,000 clients, and of this £10.7 billion is on a discretionary basis. BD has 39 offices and is corporate adviser to 131 corporate and 100 institutional clients. Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking was voted AIM Broker of the Year 2007. ¹

The Group provides complete investment management for private investors, charities and pension funds and trades as:

Brewin Dolphin in England, Wales and the Channel Islands
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Hill Osborne in the East Midlands
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Please see Media Centre section on www.brewindolphin.co.uk for details and photos of all commentators and analysts throughout the BD Group.

1. Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking was voted Broker of the Year 2007 at the Investors Chronicle AIM Investment Awards, in association with the FT