As another large bank, HSBC, is named for helping wealthy clients to evade tax payments, a new poll carried out among 2000 SMEs has revealed that three quarters of those responding felt that big companies put profits before ethical standards.
76% of them also felt that big businesses acted unfairly towards them.
The poll has prompted the FPB (Forum of Private Business) to call for a five-point business ethics plan to protect and promote the UK’s SMEs.
There is likely to be a clamour of complaint and demand in the run-up to the election, not to mention party promises to ditch red tape, make lending to SMEs easier and so on. Do they really care or simply want our vote?
Whether any of this actually happens, whichever party, or parties are elected, remains to be seen.
However, all of this is wearyingly familiar and leads us to question whether it would be wiser for SMEs to just get on with business, sell, keep control of cash flow, spending and growth plans, and not expect politicians to make things better?

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