Scottish small business confidence has fallen sharply in the third quarter of 2018 from +5.1 points to -13.2 points.
In a submission to the EFJW Committee’s inquiry into business support and the Business Gateway service, FSB highlights how the Scotland’s wide range of business support needs to be more joined-up and customer focused.
In this response to the National Council of Rural Advisers, FSB highlights that small businesses contribute around £15bn to the rural economy and should be placed at the heart of a new rural economic strategy.
This report aims to inform policy-makers how to improve the UK’s innovation policy for smaller businesses and sole traders.
FSB’s Scottish Small Business Confidence Index climbed from –17.8 points to +5.1 points in the second quarter of 2018, the first time since 2015 that the business optimism metric has climbed into positive territory.