Have you heard of the Small Business Council?
Not a fatuous question but one of overall communications from Governments and Councils. In fact it was not until a networking meeting attended last week that this ‘new’ council was even mentioned.
“SME Council membership revealed ahead of first meeting
New Small Business Council meets for the first time to discuss access to finance and removing barriers to growth – PR Published 22nd February 2024
Chaired by Small Business Minister, Kevin Hollinrake, the Council will work alongside the PM’s Business Council to tackle the key issues facing small firms who will be given new levels of access direct to government.
Almost every business in the country is a small business (99.9%) who in turn support 27 million jobs across the UK, accounting for £4.5 trillion of annual turnover. Almost every billion-pound company, tech giant, or multinational corporation started off as small business, which is why this Council has been formed, to help support and nurture the next generation of small firms to thrive and grow.
The Council will include small business organisations such as Small Business Britain, the Federation of Small Businesses and Family Business UK, as well as SMEs themselves.
These include Northern Ireland based furniture manufacturer Environmental Street Furniture who export to 27 countries globally; Midlands-based diamond drill specialists, D-Drill who have been crucial to major projects on the London Tideway and the Silverstone F1 circuit; and London-based superfood manufacturer Creative Nature who found a gap in the market for allergen products and are now stocked by supermarket giants across the UK.
With firms representing all corners of the UK covering sectors including manufacturing, construction, food and drink, the new council aims to truly represent the makeup of UK industry.
The Council will be a powerful voice for small businesses within Government and has been tasked with overseeing three key areas for small firms – Access to finance, skills and support as well as removing barriers.
The Government is ensuring small firms have the support they need with a £4.3 billion package to support SMEs with business rates and extending the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief for a fifth year, we are helping businesses navigate challenging economic times.
We are also providing the swift and simple access to finance that SMEs need to start and grow, with the British Business Bank having delivered over £1 billion of loans to over 100,000 businesses, and UK Export Finance providing £6.5 billion of support to help businesses export around the world.
In recent weeks, the Government has made a series of announcements to support small business owners. The Lilac Review was jointly unveiled with Small Business Britain – as a major new independent review determined to tackle and overcome the inequality faced by disabled business owners.
And the Help to Grow campaign website has been relaunched and refreshed, as a one-stop shop for SMEs to find the information they need to grow and scale up. This includes helping small firms to clearly identify what funding they can access, helpful webinars as well as the basics of how to set up a business for the first time.”
Now coming back to the original point, how is it that, for something that would and could be so positive for SME’s, is not even being heard about, outside of a very few posts from the board members and the one PR published in February this year?
So aside from offering access to funding, or encouraging companies to run on debt repayments in other words, they have clearly not spoken to any of their ‘members’ about publicising this to the small businesses “who in turn support 27 million jobs across the UK, accounting for £4.5 trillion of annual turnover”
From our point of view, Small Businesses need a period of stability to bring back consumer spending confidence. The current uncertainties around budget tax rises, rate rises, energy bills and petrol price increases does nothing to encourage consumer spending.
Small businesses can react with agility to market forces, but equally are the least able to absorb cost and bureaucracy increases on their bottom line longer term.
Creatively Yours…
Creatively Yours Ltd helps businesses like yours succeed online through website design, website development, and our Helponomics system that offers support and training as you need it and highlights areas that could increase your sales.
For more on our thoughts please find us on our social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, You Tube, Instagram or to read our previous blogs click Here
Then why not drop us a line to helping@creatively-yours.co.uk, or simply call us on 01536 23 98 98 or 01493 718 300
