Business News » Federation of Small Business

The FSB pushes banking report

Alan — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 04:11:20 +0000

The FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) has recently said of the Independent Commission on Banking report that time is the most essential factor and its implementation should be rapid. This is a statement that is going to be of some encouragement to small businesses around the UK.

The FSB has said that the report should be put into practice, “as soon as possible.” John Walker is the chairman of the FSB and has said that the changes should be put into effect before the end of the current Parliament. His comments come from a survey that the FSB recently conducted that showed that the owners of small businesses think that the banking system needs to see reform.

Mr Walker has said, “Over 70% of the small businesses owners in the survey felt that more competition needed to be brought into the banking sector and of these all viewed it as essential for the future health of the entire sector. The reforms will see a safer and more secure banking system and the FSB urges the Chancellor to not make the reforms and less effective. All parties promised banking reforms before the election, now it is time for them to make this happen.”

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UK SMEs need more foreign banks

Alan — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:05:31 +0000

The Independent Commission on Banking led by Sir Jon Vickers is being urged by small businesses to create a playing field that is level for foreign banks so they can enter the UK market.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says the urge to get new entrants into UK like NBNK Investments and Virgin Money risks overlooking the possibility of the potential foreign competition that could help to ease a very difficult and tough SME environment for lending.

FSB spokesman Andrew Cave said the group has spoken to over six large banks in America, Europe and beyond who have said they would be interested in entering the UK market. However they are put off by certain issues that we think should be looked at by the Independent Commission on Banking.

One of the issues that is quite major is the regulators insistence that overseas banks that want to start a new product here have to hold more capital to support them than those local home grown banks would need.

It therefore makes it easier if an existing bank that wants a new product but a new foreign bank has to hold additional capital in order to underwrite the project. That is no incentive at all for them to come.

Honestly, it seems the regulators trust existing UK banks more and we want this to be considered by the ICB. The FSB says the problem can be solved either by amending the rules so no extra funding is needed by foreign banks or the same is applied to our existing banks.

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National insurance needs to go down so SMEs can employ more people

Alan — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:11:34 +0000

If the government would reduce national insurance payments small businesses would be able to carry out their ideas of recruiting more staff, according to recent research. Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) findings revealed that many companies if there were more positive news about the economy would most likely expand.

As part of the Voice of Small Business survey the research found that over 30% of the respondents would hire more staff if the national insurance payments were reduced for the first six months of employments.

The FSB urges the government to permit firms with four or less employees, in a bid to allow growth in the economy, extend the break in payments. FSB national chairman, John Walker said that it imperative that banks lend to small businesses, that an environment for job creation is created by the government and that businesses are paid promptly.

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Pubs only mildly happy with new code of practice

Alan — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:57:47 +0000

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) figures show that over 70% of pubs feel the new code of practice started to give them a better deal will not improve their overall relationships with their owners. Tenanted pubs have for a long time paid higher beer prices and higher rents to the pubcos. Parliamentary Committees have expresses concerns on a regular basis about these industry practices since 2004.

A revised Code of Practice was recommended to have been put in place last year by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee in order to help get a fairer deal for the tenants because they were being strangled by the high beer prices and rents.

Now statistics have shown that there is absolutely nothing that has changed and the code is not working. A survey of FSB members that operates pubs shows that 69% do not have confidence that the code will improve on their business arrangement with their pubco. What the code has created is an additional financial burden for the tenant. Over 50% of those that signed the Code thought it was legally binding for both parties.

But the reality is that the code is only meant as an agreement between the two parties and tries to improve the relationship between them. The FSB is lobbying to make it a law and thereby offering the small businesses protection.

If the situation does not improve by June the Government has promised to take some sort of legislative action. This will help the tenants in their relationship with their pubcos but the FSB wants even more in order to protect the smaller firms.

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FSB not happy with Welsh Assembly plans

Alan — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 07:58:06 +0000

The Federation of Small Business is deeply worried over the Labour’s Assembly Election Manifesto. Their anxiety stems from the lack of concern for small businesses, as reflected in the manifesto.
The Small Business Fortnight bulletin examines the pledges of four parties and the FSB expressed grave disconcert that Labour’s manifesto treated the economy as unimportant. Labour disagrees with FSB’s criticism, indicating that their manifesto is filled with concern and plans to assist small and medium enterprises (SME).
In the end, the FSB applauded each party’s policies as reflecting many of the suggestions FSB had submitted. “We are vexed that Labour has placed special emphasis on large companies and disregarded SME’s. Everyone should be deeply worried that the economy does not place in the top five for them either.”
Labour countered this, “Our plan states that we are dedicated to placing broadband in the hands of all businesses by 2015. We are also planning a special business crime task force to support SME’s. So our support for SME’s speaks for itself.”
“Many Welsh SME’s are benefiting from Welsh Labour’s plan for business rate relief. They are being removed from the paying rates.”

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Bureaucracy in Europe not helping UK tiny firms

Alan — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:10:12 +0000

Despite the UK’s moratorium on regulation MICRO firms will still not be able to escape the effects of bureaucracy in Europe. For the next three years the government has put a stop on new domestic regulations for small businesses as of April 6.

But red tape that is originating in Europe is a concern of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) who says that nearly three quarters of the total costs of UK regulations comes out of Brussels where there has been over 100,000 pages of regulations since 1997 and cost around £109bn each year to businesses around the EU.

Micro firms will continue to be affected by these European regulations; Agency Workers Directive, the Parental Leave Directive and the Pregnant Workers Directive and the Regulation of working time for self-employed lorry and coach drivers. The FSB is pushing the UK government to initiate more change at the European level to stop the flow of additional regulations.

The FSB’s national chairman, John Walker says the moratorium on new regulations in the UK is very important for micro firms. We have welcomed the Government’s commitment to eliminate the burden of regulation but continue to worry about all the regulation coming out of Europe and how it will hit the smaller firms hard and how it will affect their operations.

Without the worry of constant change to the law and more regulations the micro firms can be in a much better position to plan their future, grow, take on new staff, innovate yet is also burdensome knowing that not all of the important aspects of employment regulations do not fall under the moratorium.

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Small Business should not be included in automatic pension’s scheme

Alan — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:02:48 +0000

The Federation of Small Business announced that they that believe micro businesses should not be included in the new automatic pension’s scheme that will roll out in 2012. According to the FSB, automatic enrolment in the scheme would be an administrative and financial problem for firms that d not have more than ten employees.

Mike Cherry, the FSB Chairman, stated that the FSB welcomes initiatives from the government designed to help people who want to plan for their future retirement with a pension, but are concerned with automatic enrolment since it will be costly both in terms of money and time for smaller firms.

The FSB also has concerns over the expertise that is required in order to guide employees towards the right pensions with the changes that are poised to take place. In a survey conducted by the FSB, they found that about 70% of all small business owners were not confident that they could choose the best pension for their employees.

In place of the automatic enrolment scheme for small businesses, the FSB has proposed that a default scheme be developed in which employees that have a pension provision or no other savings could be placed into so that money would be safely placed in low risk funds.

Cherry added that small business owners are uncomfortable with choosing a pension scheme because of the complicated nature of the task and they are disappointed that a solution for small firms has not yet been developed by the pensions industry.

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FSB says small business see’s no hope of improvement this year

Alan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:03:46 +0000

A survey that included 1,200 members of the FSB showed that only four percent expect that its trading prospects will improve during the third quarter of 2010, which is much less than the 16% that believed there would be an increase in the third quarter in March.

The FSB survey suggested that it may still be quite some time before recovery is complete according to a statement from the group which means that the Government still needs to encourage SMEs to hire more staff and grow.

FSB national chairman, John Walker, stated that it is expected that 600,000 public sector jobs will be lost which will stimulate the need for new private sector jobs and even more so within small firms in order for the economy to get rebalanced.

In response to this problem, the FSB is asking for new businesses to be given National Insurance Contributions holiday and extend it to companies and businesses located across the UK.

Walker stated that the policy is supported by the FSB; they simply believe that it should help out existing businesses and be applicable across the UK.

The scheme lets new start-up businesses avoid the £5,000 fee of national insurance payments for the first ten employees that they hire within their first year of trading. It does not currently include businesses that are located in London, the south east, and the east.

Senior economist Charles Davis who helped produce the FSB report stated that the SME community seems to feel that a strong recovery is still far away and there are present business risks to growth in the future.

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SMEs want to know which political party is going to help them

Alan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:01:07 +0000

The Conservative Party outlined plans for a new fairer taxation system this week if they are the winner of the 2010 general election. In response, the Federation of Small Business (FSB) is asking all of the political parties that are main contenders to outline their plans for SMEs before the General Election occur.

The FSB will hold its annual conference in March of this year in Aberdeen with speakers lined up from all of the prime political parties. On the list to speak will be Leader of the Liberal Democrats and current Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, Tory Leader David Cameron, and Nick Clegg. Shortly after the event the General Election will take place which should make it intriguing to see what the party leaders have in mind to say.

National Chairman of the FSB, John Wright, stated that the annual conference is designed to give SMEs the information that they will need to make an educated decision when they head to the polls so that they make a choice that will help them survive the year.

Wright continued to state that the lifeblood of the economy is small businesses and the FSB is making a strong effort so that the country can continue to rebound after the recession.

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FSB says hold NICS and VAT to help small business

Alan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:54:25 +0000

Suspending VAT increases and freezing NICS (National Insurance Contributors) may be the best way for the Government to help small firms advance out from under the recession according to the Federation of Small Business’ (FSB) 2010 Manifesto.

The launch of the Manifesto is set to correlate with the general election and includes many recommendations which the FSB believes will help small firms get better access to finance, set up new business, and create more jobs.

One of the vital proposals found within the Manifesto is a major overhaul of the current tax regime for payrolls that includes offering a tax rebate for firms that hire new staff members over the coming two years and a freeze on NICS.

A spokesperson for the FSB said that two areas that small firms need to concentrate on are access to finance and job creation opportunities. The spokesperson continued to say that small businesses hold the answer to ending the rising numbers of unemployment but NICS is a detriment that stops small firms from hiring more employers.

Additionally, the FSB also asked that finance be opened up to small firms from other atypical funding sources such as banks run by local councils. The need for such an institution is high according to the FSB since too many SMEs are still being refused proper funding and the banking sector needs more competition.

In response to the proposals, an official from the BIS (Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills) stated that the Government is aware of the importance of SMEs in economic recovery and that they will continue to support the small business sector.

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