Other beneficial measures include the scrapping of £350m of business regulations and the ditching of 43 tax reliefs as part of a simplification of the UK tax code.

If the chancellor had ever anticipated any giveaways in this year's Budget, those thoughts will have been scuppered as the Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded the UK growth forecast to 1.7% in the current year and 2.5% in 2011/12.

As a result, George Osborne stressed from the outset the need for any reduction in taxes to be allied with increases elsewhere, with businesses being the main beneficiary of the former.

Nicholas Mockett, partner at Moorgate Capital, said: "I think, given the state of the public finances, UK economy, and global inflation this is a well conceived budget. The key benefits to industry are in relation to lower tax.

"By planning to drop corporation tax by 2% and eventually to 23% the chancellor plans to attract new investment in the UK. This strategy previously kick started the Irish economy."

However, Mark Nelson of Compass Business Finance warned that – despite the measures aimed at business owners – he didn't think the Budget would have a massive impact on SMEs.

"We could take the 1p cut [in fuel duty], as opposed to a 1p rise, as a benefit, but this will have marginal impact when you note the rising costs of fuel anyway," he said.

"The feeling I got from the Budget, was that the government were keen to tinker at the edges, without making drastic changes or commitments.  This is borne out by the 'fiscally neutral' statement that George Osborne seemed to like so much.

"I can understand why they are being pragmatic in their approach, since they want to assess whether their existing strategies are having the desired result – we are unlikely to know this until after the second quarter growth results are published in July."

SME trade body the Forum of Private Business (FPB) welcomed some of the announcements in particular the three-year moratorium on all new business regulations for companies with 10 employees or less, both start-ups and established businesses.

However, it called for the moratorium to be extended to larger SMEs and warned that red tape stemming from EU law also needed to be included, as this "creates the majority of regulatory hurdles for small firms".

FPB chief executive Phil Orford said: "It was important a Budget heralded as being pro-enterprise focused on easing the dual burdens of tax and red tape – two of the biggest barriers to business growth and job creation facing small businesses. In that sense, we weren’t disappointed and this was certainly more than just a nod in the direction of UK SMEs.

"However, while there have been some definite steps in the right direction the Government could have gone further in reducing taxes and making the tax and regulatory systems more proportional to all small businesses so that they incentivise to entrepreneurship rather than act as a barrier to it.

"In summary, there are some good short-term measures here but more radical changes are required over the longer term.The lessons of history show that you achieve rapid, widespread small business growth – and therefore economic growth - by removing entrepreneurs from the stranglehold of tax and red tape as much as is practically possible."

Osborne also announced measures, due to come into effect from 6 April, to give extra tax relief to entrepreneurs, with the current 10% capital gains tax rate on the first £5m being doubled to the first £10m of lifetime gains.

"The tax breaks given to entrepreneurs and small or start-up businesses should help to stimulate growth and job creation – by making investment of equity more rewarding," said Mockett. "Similarly non-doms are encouraged to bring investment money into the UK, while being asked to contribute 66% more to maintain their tax status."

The cancelling of next month's planned 4p rise in fuel duty, which has now been delayed until next year, will be a popular move with all businesses, and Osborne went a step further in announcing that a further 1p will be cut from the price at the pumps from 6pm tonight.

"The measures taken on fuel help reduce the costs of operating vehicles for companies and households alike," added Mockett.