Budget 2014: Osborne urged to help SMEs and encourage investment
CHANCELLOR George Osborne will deliver his budget on Wednesday, and while the economy is improving, the North West business community would like to see more from No 11 Downing Street to boost growth.
The Knutsford headquartered small business pressure group Forum of Private Business, is calling for a major review of business rates and for action to tackle fuel costs.
The Forum is also calling for effective measures to tackle late payment, and measures introduced to encourage small firms to make the business investment needed to ensure a sustainable recovery. These include the introduction of an export credit scheme to support small businesses looking to explore growth into overseas markets, and further support for skills development through an extension to existing grants for small business employers.
FPB chief executive Phil Orford said: “The Chancellor has admitted that a recovery based on consumer spending is unsustainable and that encouraging businesses to invest and export will be key to ensuring a long-lasting sustainable recovery.
“What our members want to see on March 19th is a Budget that takes decisive action to reduce rising business costs, cut red tape to improve confidence, make it simpler and more profitable to run a small business and encourage the investment essential for a sustainable recovery.”
Bio-medical company Redx Pharma, which has grown quickly with support of the government’s Regional Growth Fund, and has operations in Liverpool and Alderley Park, Cheshire, is calling for tax incentives for venture capital investors in growth businesses.
Chief executive Dr Neil Murray said: “In our experience, government programmes such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, which encourage investment through tax breaks, are an excellent way of helping that happen.
“However, the problem comes when you try to mix EIS investment with VC funding as the company grows. Under EIS you are not allowed to offer preferential shares, but that’s exactly what VCs demand. The US tax authorities have resolved this issue, so the Chancellor should make this practical change here.”
Lawrence Jones, chief executive of Manchester-based data centre company UKFast, argues there needs to be reforms on business taxes, as smaller and medium-sized businesses like his business which has annual sales of £20m, are paying more than much larger corporations.
He explains: “I think we need a flat rate of tax for companies turning over money in the UK. It would be less to pay, but then everyone would actually pay it rather than fleeing the country to avoid it. If they did this – if they made it more attractive for companies to operate in Britain – then surely there would be no need for offshore destinations and fewer companies looking for tax loopholes.
“Ultimately, if Britain wants to keep entrepreneurial talent it needs to re-evaluate who it targets. At the moment, it feels like SMEs are propping it up and having to take the brunt of it, while the bigger corporations have HQs in places like Switzerland”
Hugh Sheridan, chief executive of Speke-based medical footwear company ALG believes there needs to be tax reforms for private medical insurance amid continuing cutbacks on NHS budgets.
Meanwhile Liz Mear, chief executive of the North West Academic Health Science Network, which is based at Sci-Tech Daresbury and helps to promote innovation into the NHS by supporting SMEs across Merseyside, Lancashire, South Cumbria and Cheshire is looking for extensions to measures already in place to support innovation, such as R&D tax credits and the Patent Box.
