The freezing December weather caused 38% of small businesses to close and a further 41% to operate without their full complement of staff. The cost to the small business sector was in the region of £2.1bn.
The FSB is calling on the coalition and the banks to give small businesses a bit of breathing space so that they can stay afloat over the festive season.
On Monday, George Osborne and Vince Cable announced a fundamental review of the steps all areas of Government are taking to promote the best conditions to encourage growth in the private sector.
It seems that every year the start of Christmas gets ever earlier and UK SMEs that have not launched their festive offers could be lagging behind their competitors; at least that’s the suggestion from moneysupermaket.com.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research think tank predicts that the UK’s economy will increase by 1.3% this year. In 2011, GDP will grow by 1.7% followed by an increase of 2.2% in 2012.
