Osborne delivered the Budget yesterday (22 June), with the intention of reducing the country's debt from £149bn to £20bn, effectively balancing its books by 2014-2015.

Highlights for printers included an increase in the threshold at which employers start to pay National Insurance, together with the retention of the zero-rated status for newspapers, magazines and printed books.

Andy Brown, director of corporate affairs at the BPIF, said: "Clearly, we're relieved that the zero protection in place for books, newspapers and magazines has been retained. Had it gone, it would undoubtedly have pushed media buyers towards other alternatives."

Small companies’ tax rate will be cut to 20% and the Enterprise Finance Guarantee will be extended, while proposals on improving the availability of credit are expected in the summer.

Osborne promised that "manufacturing as a whole will pay less tax" and that "the cost of hiring people will be less than it is today", as the NI threshold increase was backed up with a reduction in corporation tax by 1% every year to 24% in 2014/15.

Jon Bennett, director of Surrey Asset Finance, said: "The benefit to small business is obviously that they haven't gone through with the increase in National Insurance and they have reduced the minimum rate of corporation tax. On the face of it, that's a gain for the businesses we deal with, as long as they're making profit.

"[However], there is obviously pain to come – and the big impact will be the reduction in public sector spending and employment. There are a lot of printing companies that are active in that sector and that will have a profound effect on those businesses' ability to grow their sales."

Bennett added that while zero-rated printed items had escaped the VAT hike, it could still have a significant impact on cashflow in the industry.

"For the print industry, a press is a large investment and the funding of the VAT is an issue, so we'll have to wait and see whether that has an ongoing impact on people's ability to finance new machinery," he said. "Obviously, they can claim the VAT back – but they have to fund it until then, so it becomes a cashflow issue."

Other measures announced included changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT), which for the highest earners will jump from 18% to 28%, although the basic rate will remain the same, while entrepreneurs will have extended benefits on their 10% rate.

Nicholas Mockett, of Moorgate Capital, said: "I am relieved that the changes in CGT weren't worse. With illiquidity in the debt markets, businesses that need investment (including printing and packaging) are having to rely more on equity. By taxing the gains more, this effectively increases the cost of equity or reduces its availability. Either way, this would not help the economy to prosper."

Mark Nelson, of Compass Business Finance, added that the Budget could serve to attract business back to the UK due to the cut in corporation tax and the fact the government is tackling the national debt.

"I think it was a pretty well-rounded Budget," he added. "They took away on some points but there were a lot of positives for private business. The VAT rise was always going to come – I felt the reduction was a mistake, it lost a lot of money that now has to be repaid and I don't think it had a big impact on the market."

Nelson said that he hoped the current government would be more supportive of the manufacturing industry, in order to reduce the economy's over-reliance on services.

Additional points from the Budget included a capital injection for the Royal Mail, no further increase on fuel duty, a commitment to funding key transport projects and incentives for new businesses.

In addition, a small reduction in rates for capital allowances will see a fall from 20% to 18% on machinery and from 10% to 8% on longer-term assets, while the investment allowance has been reduced to £25,000 per year.

The economic growth forecast for the UK has also been downgraded from 2.6% to 2.3% next year although markets reacted positively on the news.