Queen’s speech, the small business reaction

Like the pre-Budget report before it, this year’s Queen’s Speech was (unusually) highly anticipated.

News reports were rife with speculation that it would respond to the Alistair Darling’s lukewarm pre-Budget statement and put forward yet more measures to boost small businesses and the economy as a whole.

It was the first Speech to fall in a recession for more than 15 years and gossipers speculated that Mandy got involved, busily hacking away at items that causing small businesses undue stress.

When it was finally delivered the speech seemed to look favourably on entrepreneurs. But did the groups representing British business agree that they were better off? Below is a list of responses – you decide!

British Chambers of Commerce director general David Frost was not best pleased: “This is the first Queen’s Speech during a recession for over a decade, yet there is little medicine for the economy.

“The government has today brought forward proposals which will cost businesses time by imposing new employment legislation and money by hitting them with a business rate supplement.”

His counterpart at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) was a little more generous: “Reforms to the financial sector are very welcome, following a very difficult year for small businesses, which have seen costs on overdrafts rise and loans being defaulted,” he said.
 
“But measures to extend flexible working for parents will be an extra burden for small businesses at an already difficult time. The FSB is also concerned that small firms will struggle to pay extra business rate charges in what will be a very difficult year.”

Ah. So what did the CBI, home to the UK’s biggest businesses, have to say? Deputy director-general John Cridland was benign is his judgement: “The prime minister has rightly focused on measures affecting the economy in this year’s Queen’s Speech.

“But it is important that government policies assist businesses facing the credit crunch without placing unnecessary administrative burdens on them, which cost time and money, and stop companies focussing on the important challenges they face.”

More importantly, what do you think? Will it change anything? Comments welcomed below or in our business forum.

Why not sign up to our small business newsletter and learn more?

Rating

By Dan Matthews  on   Dec 03,2008

Add a comment  |  Add a rating  |  Email to a friend

Keywords

Queen's Speech    banks    economy    politics    Mandelson    FSB    BCC    CBI   

Comments