There was lots of discussion on how Labour plans to help ensure that the UK’s 5.5 million SME’s thrive – which is essential to building sustainable, long-term economic growth.
Issues debated included:
- The funding gap for women in business and ethnic minority businesses to grow – with 45% of high growth enterprises being in London but only 13% of population living in London, there is a clear imbalance in the regions.
- Concerns around the current structure of the Apprenticeship Levy acting as a type of business tax and not achieving the aims it set out to. In addition, concerns around accessible training to bring through the next generation of skilled workforce.
- Lack of access to investment capital.
- Access to affordable energy and the effect this has on productivity.
- The current outdated, not fit-for-purpose business rates system.
- The need for Government to communicate more effectively with small businesses and to strip away the Government speak, enabling more open and transparent dialogue with small firms.
- More help needed at a very local level from Local Authorities to help re-generate and stimulate local economies.
To name but a few!
The owner of 1 Market Place Tea Rooms at the AMP in Arnold, Sarah Burton, kindly provided the venue for the event and also supplied us with some wonderful cakes/sandwiches! She also highlighted her desire for Government to do more to help build up local areas which have seen decline and her own business bears testament to how successful this approach can be – her overarching message to the Shadow Chancellor and the Shadow Secretary was ‘help us to achieve’!
Members in attendance were: Michael Weedon (Exp2 Ltd), Dawn Edwards (Challenge Consulting), Nigel Best (Independent EDI Consultant and Coach/Mentor), Claire Twells (Smith Partnership and Women in Business Advocate), Ben Lovejoy (Trent Industrial Textiles Ltd), Philip Brooks Stephenson (KuKu Connect) and Rik Pancholi (Corporate Lawyer, Nelsons).
Karen Wooley, FSB Development Manager who organised the meeting said “we are always pleased to be able to put forward the small business voice to politicians, and with the help of our members we can hear from a diverse range of businesses and put forward real world examples and suggest tangible changes. Thanks to all the members who helped us to make this meeting possible and fed their priorities and concerns forward, while also supporting the asks and messages of FSB, as we look towards a general election at some point this year.”