Weekly Brief Week 19 of 2009      Friday 15 May 2009

In this week's issue: Local elections; EU; Boris Johnson; Late payment; Beer ties; Crossrail; Nick Clegg; Equality Bill; Minimum wage; Construction

Local elections
The FSB is urging prospective councillors in the local elections in England on 4 June to put small businesses at the heart of their campaign and remember they play a vital role in fighting the recession. Read the press release and view the Local Government manifesto.

European Parliament elections
Elections for the European Parliament are being held on 4 June, the same day as the local elections. Read updates on the campaign trail from FSB EU and International Affairs Chairman Tina Sommer on the FSB's European Elections campaign page.

Boris Johnson
London Mayor Boris Johnson mentioned the FSB in a comment piece he wrote for the Evening Standard which described small businesses as ‘the backbone of London'.

Late payments
The FSB repeated its calls for tougher sanctions on businesses that pay late in a meeting with Small Business Minister Shriti Vadera and dozens of FTSE 100

companies, as reported by the Financial Times. 

Beer ties
Pub landlords may be able to break the tie with the pub companies (pubcos) that own them, thanks to lobbying by the FSB. John Wright, FSB National Chairman, welcomed the Business and Enterprise Committee's findings on pubcos this week, which highlighted the unfair relationship between pubcos and pubs.  Read the press release and view coverage in the Daily Express.

Crossrail
The FSB has signed up to a letter from London Mayor Boris Johnson which backed the start of the Crossrail construction this week. FSB London Policy Unit Chairman Sue Terpilowski signed the letter, printed in the Financial Times, which also called for further investment in the London Underground.

Nick Clegg
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg discussed business issues over lunch with the FSB's National Chairman John Wright and Policy Chairman John Walker in the FSB's Westminster Office last week. View the photo gallery.

Equality Bill
FSB National Chairman John Wright has written an article for workingmums.co.uk on the small business perspective of the Equality Bill.

National Minimum Wage
The FSB has warned that this week's 7p increase in the national minimum wage to £5.80/hour could leave small businesses worried about higher costs and result in redundancies during the recession. FSB National Chairman John Wright's concerns were reported by the Press Association and in the Scotsman.

Construction
NetRegs.gov.uk, the online environmental guidance website, has launched a campaign to help smaller construction firms win more contracts by demonstrating their environmental compliance. The FSB is also supporting the Federation of Master Builders' Get Britain Building campaign as part of efforts to stimulate the industry.

Have a good weekend,

Marc Shoffman