Before the election last week, the main business worries were the lack of orders due to uncertainty, and the lack of finance for small businesses.
Almost as soon as the results were in, John Longworth, the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, among others was calling for “bold, ambitious” action from the newly-formed government.
His open letter to the Government asked for an emphasis on growth, not austerity and on measures to help businesses to export.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph’s Matthew Lynn identified four business priorities that the government needs to address with some dispatch to help businesses and economic growth.
They are reducing both capital gains and top rate income tax, actually delivering on promises to remove red tape (partly by renegotiating some of the EU regulations affecting businesses), helping entrepreneurs by exempting them from some employment and capital gains regulations for their first five years in business and by recognising that the property market is broken.
While the election has introduced a level of certainty, the uncertainty about an in/out EU referendum remains and time will tell if government initiatives stimulate investment since the EU regulations on banks will discourage risky lending which for most UK banks means lending to SMEs.
We invite you to tell us what measures would most help your business to grow, and also what you think the Government should do to support them.