Depending on who you listen to, the PBR was either fantastic or pretty terrible stuff. From a small business perspective there are some high points for sure: Darling has implemented a £1bn finance scheme to assist small businesses; corporate tax rate hikes for small firms have been deferred; and then VAT cuts should increase consumer spending. Oh and more motorways are being planned. 

Hold on: what has that last got to do with business? And is it good news? Well, not if you have your green hat on.

At a time when global leaders such as Barack Obama are opening “new chapters” in their countries’ climate change policies, many are disappointed that Darling hasn’t made it easier for green business to get ahead. After all, the Obama team seems able to use green policy to fight the credit crunch stateside: the incoming US government is to invest the equivalent of £10bn a year in clean technology, helping to generate some five million green jobs.

Before the PBR, Greenpeace appealed for the government to set up a green investment bank to help build green business and infrastructure in the UK. Looks like it’s not going to happen this fiscal year.

But even if the PBR didn’t reach out a hand to green business this time round, many believe the timing is still ripe for a green boom.

Next week sees the UN climate talks taking place in Poland; and the government's new climate change committee will release its first report on the UK's allowed carbon expenditure on Monday: that means new policy, people.

At last Thursday’s Entrepreneurs in London conference, green social entrepreneur and conservative candidate for RichmondPark, Zac Goldsmith, flagged the importance of government policy for start-up businesses. He believes green businesses are soon to have the edge.

Goldsmith anticipates changes in the policy landscape that will facilitate an explosion in new energy companies and opportunities for innovative recycling ventures. As environmental matters increasingly become the concern of pan-European and multi-lateral agencies, government policy will most likely reward companies moving in a green direction.

Goldsmith said: “It’s important to know where policies are going because that will have a direct impact on investments: I don’t think businesses can disregard green issues.”

So small green businesses, take heart: the PBR is not the end of the road.