Earlier this week Mark Prisk spoke to the Summit for Small Business and explained how the government intends to help the five million SMEs, which includes umbrella companies, in Britain grow now that the recession is behind us.
Prisk used to own a small business so he says he understands how important SMEs are to the UK’s growth. The sector provides 60% of UK jobs and 50% of GDP and Prisk’s speech could make SMEs a bit more optimistic that support will be forthcoming from the government.
According to the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, 60% of SMEs want to grow in the next three years but getting access to finance has been an ongoing problem since the start of the recession. The Department has now announced it intends to rectify this, as well as making it easier for small firms to do business with public sector organisations and allowing social tenants to start running a new business from home.
The Federation of Small Businesses has called on the government to make good on these promises and ensure that smaller firms and contractors get 25% of public sector contracts. FSB spokesman, Stephen Alambritis, also agreed that SMEs need easier access to finance but added that less onerous red tape was also required if the government wants to help small businesses flourish.
The government intends to continue the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme for the next four years. This scheme helps 6,000 SMEs a year by making about £2bn available to small firms and freelancers without either collateral or a credit history. In addition, it will commit another £200m to Enterprise Capital Funds that support equity investments in potential high growth businesses.
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