Just 15 per cent of micro business owners said the government’s current policies fairly represented their needs
Exactly one year on from the 2015 general election, just two per cent of micro business owners are very satisfied? by the Conservative government’s policies, whilst only 14 per cent felt their business’s needs are currently being met by Westminster.
New research has found that, despite David Cameron hailing himself as the minister for small business and enterprise? in the run up to last year’s general election, over a third of micro business decision makers are dissatisfied with the policies introduced to help out the UK’s smaller firms.
Just 15 per cent of the 500 micro business owners surveyed by accountancy firm Crunch Accounting said that the current UK political debate fairly represented their needs and concerns, whilst 43 per cent said that it didnt reflect the day-to-day challenges of running their business whatsoever. Just over half of owners said they felt ambivalent about David Cameron’s policies.
it is clear that the microbusiness community is continuing to be sidelined when it comes to policy making and representation at a government level one year into the government’s term, said Crunch Accounting CEO Darren Fell. The message were receiving is that politicians need to start paying attention to the needs of the UK’s micro business community.
Amongst the government’s pledges to small and micro business owners in the 2015 election campaign were priorities to cut 10bn of red tape, deliver a meaningful review of business rates and provide targeted support for smaller firms, all of which were outlined in Cameron’s small business manifesto launched a week before the election.
The research demonstrated that not one of these pledges is being fully met in the minds of British micro business owners, and that the government has a long way to go to live up to its promises.
When interviewed earlier this year, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Mike Cherry, told Business Advice that it was important the government appoint the long-awaited small business commissioner to help relieve some of the concerns small business leaders may have about David Cameron’s government.
it can be a lonely place out there for small business owners, said Cherry. The small business commissioner, when brought in, will have a very important role in addressing the fundamental shift in business culture that’s needed in this country. Whomever that person will be, they need to be given the resources and be able to garner the respect that the position demands to enforce change.
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