SME Business News

For small businesses the priority, as always, will be to carry on creating wealth and jobs – and the FSB is calling on government to create the right conditions for growth by providing an economic stimulus for small business.
One key concern over the past 18 months is that of affordable finance for small business. The [...]

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Public sector clients are still late to pay small businesses, a survey has found.
A survey by the Federation of Small Business (FSB) found that 22% of payments from local authorities were late, while 35% of payments from central government were still outstanding after the agreed payment period.
The FSB believes the government, nationally and locally, must [...]

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Experian, the global information services company, has released its latest mergers and acquisitions and equity capital market (ECM - flotation, rights issue and placement) data covering quarter Q1 2010.
The data reveals that while the number of transactions fell during Q1, the total value of them increased. By comparison, the total number and value of deals [...]

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The Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) has made the following comments regarding the Budget:
“The Chancellor’s Budget contained a raft of measures designed to support SMEs and we applaud the increased focus on supporting the UK’s firms as they help to drive the economy out of recession. We welcome the additional capital growth funds for growing [...]

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Richard Lambert, the director general of the CBI, described the Budget as “clever and political” but added that “anxiety remains on how the deficit is going to be paid down” and that “growth forecasts for 2011 and beyond are still on the optimistic side”.
Mr Lambert found several of the measures positive.
He said: “There was more [...]

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The Institute of Directors thought that the Budget contained many positive initiatives to help small and medium-sized businesses but regretted that it did not reverse the increases in the top rate of income tax and national insurance contributions.
The organisation also expressed concern that the proposed reductions in the budget deficit do not go far enough, [...]

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Steve Radley, director of policy at the manufacturing employers’ group, EEF,  emphasised the urgency for formulating a plan to fix the public finances.
Acknowledging that the Green Investment Bank shows that the government has kept its eye on the medium-term needs of the economy, Mr Radley nevertheless lamented the frequent changes to taxes, citing the example [...]

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