Weekly Brief

Week 18 of 2009      Friday 08 May 2009

In this week's issue: Fair tips; Post Bank; Swine Flu; Family-friendly small business; Banks report; Asthma safety; Gas

Fair Tips for waiters
The Government's announcement that it will ban restaurants and bars from using tips to top up staff wages is a win for the FSB, following our Fair Tips Campaign, run jointly with The Independent and the Daily Mirror, last year. The FSB's position was reported in the Independent and the Guardian this week, including statistics from our poll which showed that 96 per cent of small businesses pay fair wages and don't top up with tips.

Post Bank Petition
Show your support for the idea of a Post Bank by signing up to the Post Bank coalition's petition on the Number 10 website. There are already nearly 300 signatures so far.

Swine Flu
Swine Flu continues to be a serious risk, so continue to monitor the Department of Health website for information and advice. The FSB was quoted in the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail last week on the issue.

Family-friendly small firms
The FSB's John Wright wrote an opinion piece for the Observer newspaper answering their ‘question of the week': whether employers should be forced by law to be more family friendly. Responding to the latest proposals in the Equalities Bill, John said that small firms are already among the most flexible employers.

Banks
The Treasury Select Committee's report on the performance of the high street banks found that they have been guilty of leaving small firms out in the cold when it comes to offering new access to finance. The Independent on Sunday reported the story, which the FSB has been campaigning on for the past year.

Business Against Asthma
Asthma UK, the charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of people with asthma, has set up a special scheme for small businesses called Business Against Asthma. With someone dying from asthma in the UK every seven hours, the figures are stark. And many triggers for asthma can be found in the workplace. But members of the Business Against Asthma scheme receive information, support and advice so that they can make a difference in their workplace and in their local community.

Gas safety Register
All gas workers have had to be signed up to the newly named Gas Safety Register since April 1. This register replaces the requirement for all gas workers to be registered with CORGI. The Scheme is overseen by the Health and Safety Executive under the requirement to be authorised by an approved body under the Gas Safety (installation and use) Regulations 1998. Registered engineers will be indentified by displaying a new yellow Gas Safe Register logo, and will be required to carry a Gas Safe Register identification card with their unique licence number.

Sunday stories
The FSB was featured in a few stories in the Sunday papers on a variety of issues from how the organisation helped a woman start her own business after being made redundant, in the Sunday Express; on funding for IT in the Mail on Sunday and on businesses affected by problems with the Edinburgh tram scheme in the Sunday Times.

Have a good weekend,

Sophie Kummer