Helping thousands more new businesses get off the ground by expanding the Government’s Start-Up loan scheme and opening up further the £230 billion worth of public sector contracts to the smallest businesses will help boost growth and transform the economy according to the Prime Minister’s enterprise advisor, Lord Young.
The Government is taking a series of measures to help small businesses grow. These include: A new Employment Allowance which means that every business and charity in the country is now automatically entitled to a £2,000 cut in national insurance.
Steps are ongoing towards the creation of a Government-backed business bank. The bank has been given £1bn of new Government funding, with £300m of this being invested by the Government along side private investors over the next two years to provide diverse sources of funding for SMEs.
A package of credit easing measures, to improve the supply of affordable credit to SMEs across the country, such as the Funding for Lending Scheme to support supply of credit to the whole economy, and the £1.2bn Business Finance Partnership to stimulate the development of alternatives to bank finance.
Supporting SMEs who lack sufficient track record or collateral to access bank finance by providing a Government guarantee on their loan.
Removing the age cap currently set at 30 years old for the Government’s Start-Up loan scheme, so that all entrepreneurs that would otherwise struggle to secure the necessary finance and support can benefit.
Legislating to abolish pre qualification questionnaires (PQQ) on contracts under €200k across the public sector, and setting “single market” principles which suppliers can expect when doing business with the public sector. These principles would simplify and standardise the bidding, payment and advertising of contracts, and would remove the complexity, cost and inconsistency when trying to sell to more than one local authority or public sector body. This would help SMEs further access the £230 billion per year that is spent on goods and services across the whole public sector;
A £30m Growth Voucher programme to encourage more small firms to get specialist help on: expanding their workforce; marketing a business; financial management and growing online.
Lord Young said: “Growing our smallest businesses would transform our economy – they are the vital 95%. If just half of the UK’s micro businesses took on an additional member of staff, unemployment would be reduced to almost zero. We need to raise the aspirations and confidence of these businesses and give them the tools to grow.”
