Weekly Brief 20 Friday 17 May 2013

FSB welcomes Lord Young’s report on ‘Growing Businesses’

The FSB broadly welcomes Lord Young’s report and his ideas for proposed additional help for small firms, for example increasing access to procurement contracts and expert advice in business, schools and boosting non-bank sources of finance. Read the press release and coverage in the Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times.

Inflation report shows encouraging signs, but still more to be done

The FSB has said that the Bank of England's latest inflation report shows encouraging signs that inflation will fall faster than previously anticipated. However, small firms still need to access finance to boost economic growth. FSB research cited in the report shows that Funding for Lending is reducing the cost of finance. Read the comment.

Unemployment figures show a struggling labour market

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that unemployment rose to 2.52 million in the three months to March. The FSB has said this shows the labour market continuing to struggle and that small firms are key to getting more people back into work. Read the comment.

FSB urges small firms to engage customers via the web to boost sales

FSB research shows that one in four UK small firms risks being uncompetitive by not having their own website. As a consequence jobs and growth on local high streets could be under threat. The FSB is supporting Local Business Week to get shoppers to pledge to buy three items from their local high street. Read the press release, view the infographic and watch a short video.

Traders and local authorities should work together to revitalise towns

More than half of small firms surveyed by the FSB believe their high streets are performing poorly and would back closer working relationships between business and local authorities. Read the press release.

Government roundtable meeting on export reveals small businesses neglected

Business Minister Vince Cable highlighted the Government’s failure to support small businesses on export drawing on some of FSBs recent research. Read the comment in the Daily Mail.

Cash incentive proposed for small firms that employ reservists

The Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond MP has said he is looking at proposals to give small firms a cash incentive if they employ a reservist. The FSB has said while this could be useful for some small firms, many would prefer support in other areas to help with employing a reservist. Read thecomment.

Best Council to do Business winners should share best practice, says FSB

The winners of the Best Council to do Business Awards should share best practice with other councils according to the FSB. Speaking at the awards event in Number 10, Mike Cherry said that the winners 'have all demonstrated that they understand the potential of SMEs to help them build strong local economies'. Read the comment.

Parliamentary update

During the debates following the Queen’s Speech, Business Secretary Vince Cable MP mentioned our support for measures on jobs and growth, while Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna MP mentioned our desire for the Business Bank to be operational as soon as possible. During the Commons debates, David Rutley MP mentioned our response to the Intellectual Property Bill and Sir Bob Russell MP noted our membership of the Fair Deal For Your Local campaign. During the Lords Debate on the Queen’s Speech, Lord Sheikh mentioned our welcome for the National Insurance Contributions Bill.

What do you think of business support services?

The Business Department is currently reviewing its strategy for business support with the aim of making it easier to find the most appropriate advice and guidance locally and nationally to help businesses grow. It wants to hear from businesses about accessing current business support, and what you would like to see in the future.

Open to Export Webinars

The UK Trade and Industry department’s Open to Export team have co-ordinated a number of webinars on export finance which will be broadcast in May. The webinar will feature experts on this issue from UK Export Finance and others. The webinars will be broadcast live at 2:30pm on 21, 23 and 29 May and then available to watch on demand afterwards. Read about and register for the webinars.

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Plymouth City Council
PR 5693    10/05/2013

New industrial estate to bring in jobs

Plymouth could be getting a new industrial estate on the eastern edge of the city as part of pro-active push by the Council to secure jobs and companies.

The Council is considering developing part of the three hectares of land it owns at Langage Business Park into an estate with work space and modern facilities for small and medium-sized companies.

A report to Cabinet on 21 May is recommending the Council gets the ball rolling on the project to turn an empty parcel of land near Plympton into a thriving hub of economic activity that could create and support 80 jobs.

It calls on the Cabinet to add the project to the Council’s capital programme and to begin the task of procuring the main contractor.

Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet Member for Finance said: “This is absolutely the right thing to do with land that’s been lying empty. We’ve heard over and over again from small and medium businesses that the lack of suitable premises is hampering their expansion, so we are prepared to step in and make this happen.

Council Leader Tudor Evans added: “A key commitment in our Plan for Jobs is to use Council assets and our ability to access finance to enable job creation. A specific project was our ‘Building for Jobs Investment Fund’. It would be hard to think of an idea that would be better suited to this fund.”

The business park would have high-quality facilities and is also expected to feature sustainable technologies to minimise carbon emissions and running costs.

The development cost is estimated to be £2.5 million and would be funded through the investment fund. Once built, it would also provide a long term income stream for the Council.

A report earlier this year by property experts Jones Lang LaSalle concluded that Plymouth has a shortage of high quality, modern employment space facilities. And with the Council’s business parks and units running at 95 per cent occupancy, more are needed.

Not only would it help create sustainable employment once built, it would also create jobs during the construction phase of the premises, which see almost 3,000 square metres of flexible workspace being built.

Plymouth Manufacturer's Group also said there was a ‘distinct lack of high quality employment space of the right size’ over the past few years and argued that this was constraining SME businesses in the Plymouth travel-to-work area.

Their report estimated 20 per cent of firms felt their premises inhibited their growth, 35 per cent said they were not able to find appropriate premises and 70 per cent felt the supply of sites/buildings is inadequate, inappropriately located and/or priced.

Plymouth Chamber of Commerce also highlighted the lack of modern space available as well as the new supply of property suitable for small and medium sized business.

The Council-owned development land is off Beechwood Way within Langage Business Park, on the northern side of the Langage Industrial Estate. There is a range of business space including the traditional distribution and manufacturing occupiers on the estate together with call centres, car showrooms and offices.

The site is close to the Deep Lane junction off the A38 Devon Expressway, providing swift and easy access to the local, regional and national road network.

While the land is owned by Plymouth City Council, it falls within South Hams District Council’s boundary and the Langage employment site policy area and any proposals would be subject to the South Hams planning processes.

FSB News Release

PR 2012 16

Issue date: Friday 22 March 2013

FSB urges people to Keep Trade Local as FSB Conference opens in Leicester

The FSB revives its Keep Trade Local campaign at FSB National Conference in Leicester

Small businesses believe that a lack of consumer confidence will pose a significant challenge to their business in the coming 12 months, according to the latest findings of a the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) snap poll as it revives its Keep Trade Local campaign.

The continued decline of the high street is putting businesses at risk, with supermarkets and the internet getting stronger. Through its Keep Trade Local campaign, the FSB is encouraging businesses to work together to make their local high street the place to visit, and for people to understand they must use the high street or face losing it for good.

Small businesses are the heart of the local community; they generate wealth, employment and opportunity. But with people working longer hours and the growth of convenience, one-stop-shopping and the internet, these places are at risk. This is especially true as people work longer hours.

Our recent ‘Voice of Small Business’ Index for Q1 2013 showed that confidence among retail businesses fell from 1 to -11, meaning businesses went from being neither positive or concerned about their prospects, to being overwhelmingly negative. Other disappointing figures from the survey showed that 47 per cent of retail respondents said their revenue had fallen in the previous three months.

The FSB is calling for local authorities, councils and central government to look at how they can make grassroots economies prosperous once again by working in partnership and helping their independent high street businesses to grow. Following the Budget announcements we now hope that small firms will reconsider taking on staff or an apprentice and create more jobs.

Through its Keep Trade Local campaign the FSB is calling for:

• Business rates to be made fairer and small business rates relief to be made permanent in England as it is in Scotland
• Business rates to be indexed to the CPI inflation measure
• Central and local government to think about the ‘three P’s’ – planning, parking and procurement as a way to boost and encourage local trade

Launching the campaign to around 700 delegates at FSB National Conference in Leicester, Mike Cherry, National Policy Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“Once the high street starts to go into decline it can be difficult to revive. But with the right measures from councils and local authorities the tide can be turned.

“Our recent survey on business confidence found that small business owners are still concerned with the issues that previously underpinned Keep Trade Local. The Government clearly understands these issues and the importance of local economies and the high streets within them. The Mary Portas review gave many recommendations which we believe are important to the future prosperity of the high street.

“The horsemeat scandal provided a short-term boost to our high streets, but it’s time for a more concerted effort from everybody to keep their local high streets vibrant and alive.”

FSB News Release PR 2013 15

Issue date: Wednesday 20 March 2013

A budget to restore confidence and growth for small businesses, says the FSB

Small businesses must now seize the Chancellor’s wide ranging package of measures to support the economy

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warmly welcomed the Government’s moves to create an employer’s allowance which will mean small businesses will not have to pay National Insurance Contributions (NICs) under £2,000, calling it a bold move from the Chancellor. The FSB believes this will give small firms the confidence to create thousands of new jobs in the private sector, get the economy moving. It is pleased the Chancellor has taken on board a number of its key recommendations.

John Walker, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“The FSB asked for a budget for small businesses and this is what has been delivered. This Budget opens the door for small firms to grow and create jobs. The Chancellor has pulled out all the stops with a wide-ranging package of measures to support small firms. FSB says the housing initiative will help reinvigorate the construction sector in which many of our members operate and where confidence has been low. The National Insurance Contributions (NICs) cut goes beyond what we were asking for and we are pleased to see the 3p fuel duty rise due in September completely scrapped. We now look forward to hearing details on how the Government intends to take forward the Business Bank that will help provide much needed access to capital for small firms.”

Commenting on the small firms’ National Insurance rate John Walker, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“The FSB has advocated an extension to the current NICs holiday scheme for some time. We are pleased that the Chancellor has gone further and has completely taken out some employers from paying National Insurance at all. This will help businesses that are wary of the cost of employment to take on staff and help those that currently employ free up funds to expand their business. We estimated that extending the NICs holiday would create 45,000 jobs, this move has the potential to create far more than that.”

On fuel duty plans, he continued...

“It is good news for the motorist – be they a business or consumer – that the 3p rise in fuel duty has been cancelled and not postponed. Fuel is consistently one of the main causes of rising overheads for a business, so this will help to at least provide some certainty on these costs for the coming year. With 85 per cent of businesses relying on a vehicle for work, this is welcome news for members.”

Housing

“The Help to Buy scheme is a bold move from the Chancellor to boost the industry and to get people onto the housing ladder. FSB research has shown that confidence levels in the construction sector have been consistently low. In addition the measure to build 15,000 new homes will give the sector a welcome boost. We hope this will create new jobs and opportunities within the sector and for our members.”

Childcare vouchers

“The change to the childcare voucher scheme is welcomed, especially by our self-employed members who have not been able to access the existing scheme. We believe that by increasing the subsidy available and opening the scheme up to more people that it will create a stronger and more flexible workforce. And with ONS figures today showing that 1.14 million women are out of work, we hope this will help them to get back into the workforce.”

FSB News Release PR 2013 14

Issue date: Monday 18 March 2013

Government on right track with Heseltine response, says FSB

Commenting on the Government’s response to Lord Heseltine’s Review, No Stone Unturned, John Walker, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

"We feel that overall the Government has taken the right approach with the recommendations it is going to take forward from the Heseltine Review. As he rightly identifies, local economic development is incredibly important to growth and the development of small businesses. Funding for the regions has for too long been overly centralised and Lord Heseltine’s proposals will finally allow local communities to start to have direct influence over their local economies. While they still require further development, we believe Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are best placed to know what action is needed to help their local areas develop. A gradual approach taken by the Government to devolve spending is the right one, which will allow LEPs to build their capacity to draw up economic plans and bid for funding.

“Going forward, the Government must ensure that LEPs in each region are delivering for all sections of the community. This is absolutely key if the project is to be a success. We know that in some areas LEPs have little or no small business representation or input. The Government must therefore ensure a 360 degree view of business is taken when bids for the single pot are made so that the views of small as well as large businesses are fully captured in any submissions.

“While this does represent a significant change in the way economic policy operates, and one we broadly welcome, we feel that the Government and Lord Heseltine have missed a trick by not looking at the way central government creates enterprise policy and how this can be decentralised to deliver a long-term and coherent approach. The FSB believes a single institution, similar to the Small Business Administration in the US, would help to provide this much-needed focus and should be looked at.”

Plymouth has signed up the 25th member of the
Buy With Confidence 
Approved Trader scheme

Consumers in Plymouth are now able to buy with confidence as Plymouth recently joined an initiative aimed at promoting the city’s many good traders and helping consumers avoid rogue traders.

Plymouth City Council joined the Buy With Confidence scheme which is open to many different kinds of businesses; Plymouth had initially encouraged the kinds of businesses that usually contract with their customers in their homes such as builders and gardeners to sign up but we now have a wide range of trades to choose from including retailers and surveyors.

Only good, honest traders get approved because, as part of the application process, the business will be checked for trustworthiness and fair trading practices. Only if the business passes all of the stringent checks will it be able to display the Buy With Confidence logo. Whilst part of the scheme, the business will be monitored to make sure standards remain high.

Inclusion in the list means that the local business aims to give a good, reliable and customer friendly service. Displaying the Buy With Confidence logo shows that the business is willing to go the extra mile for it’s customers.

How the scheme works

• There is a set fee for businesses to sign up; this depends on the number of employees.
• Potential for increased sales
• Promotion on Buy With Confidence website
• Buy With Confidence logo can be used on all advertising, paperwork and vehicles
• Membership certificate and weather-proof stickers provided to advertise membership 
• Hotlink to the business website via Buy With Confidence website 
• Increased consumer confidence in the business
• Impartial help and advice if problems arise
• Inclusion on the Which?Local website
• The scheme is part of a national campaign: www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk