As budget day looms ever closer, various organisations have been urging the government to create an environment that supports entrepreneurs, small businesses and umbrella company contractors.
The FSB claims that the UK’s small enterprises have a crucial role to play in the economic recovery and therefore the government must demonstrate a commitment to helping them grow.
National chairman, John Walker, pointed out that last year was tough and this year doesn’t look as if it’s going to be much better with unemployment remaining high, government austerity measures biting and GDP contracting.
There are 4.8 million small enterprises in the UK and they are well placed to aid the recovery, but to do so, they need help. George Osborne needs to use the Budget to provide businesses with incentives to hire more staff and to make it viable for unemployed people to become self-employed.
The Forum of Private Business wants to see more done to ensure funding is available to SMEs and limited company contractors. Although Project Merlin is supposed to address this problem, the Forum says that increasing lending to SMEs by 15% is not going to be enough to solve the funding crisis.
The chief executive of the FPB, Phil Orford, points out the process surrounding lending is too complex and this has led to a subdued demand for credit. He wants the government to improve transparency, affordability and flexibility in SME lending as banks will be unable to meet the 15% target if demand remains at its current level.
The CBI also wants the government to take steps to help private and family-owned businesses grow. John Cridland said the coalition needs to tackle the burdensome regulations which distract business owners from creating jobs and growing their companies.
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Image: Small things, Big things by Shermeee
