As subscribers to our Policy Updates will be well aware, yesterday the Government published the long-awaited Small Business Strategy. Backing your Business: Our Plan for Small and Medium Sized Businesses covers a lot of ground, but today I’ll pick out a few themes.
Alongside other business leaders and policy experts, I’m quoted in the Government’s press release, where I began by setting out the case for supporting small businesses:
“Small businesses are where opportunity begins – new jobs, new skills and new ideas. Practical help, such as being paid on time, easy access to advice and finance, and less administrative burden, makes a real difference.”
I went on to focus on what’s shaping up to be the headline announcement around late payments:
“In a world where online banking, accounting software and e-invoicing exist, it’s completely unacceptable that so many burgeoning startups see their growth stall due to late payments. At its worst, they can send perfectly good businesses to the wall – leaving Britain’s economy less dynamic and competitive. Founders in our network will hope the measures outlined today mean it is the beginning of the end for late payments.”
As our Research Director Eamonn Ives sets out in the Policy Update:
“New rules and powers will be introduced to clamp down on late payments – including stricter maximum payment terms, mandatory payment of interest on late invoices, fines against large companies who persistently pay their suppliers late and excluding suppliers who fail to pay promptly from large public sector contracts.”
Above all, it’s reassuring to know that Emma Jones CBE, the new Small Business Commissioner, will be leading on this. If there’s one thing Emma proved in building Enterprise Nation, it’s that she knows how to deliver.
On exports, the Plan restates the Government’s commitment to expand UK Export Finance’s capacity by £20 billion. As we argued, coincidentally with Enterprise Nation, in Access All Areas: Markets, there is room to expand on the successes of the world’s oldest export credit agency, particularly with regard to supporting more small and medium-sized businesses.
When it comes to backing the next generation, we’ve previously engaged with the government on the creation of a new ‘Youth Entrepreneur’ category of the King’s Awards for Enterprise, which was announced yesterday. This aligns with our belief that raising the status of entrepreneurs and innovators is an underappreciated policy lever of governments. As Ned Donovan and Anton Howes wrote in Honours for Innovators:
“Raising invention’s status and prestige was crucial to how Britain first got its reputation during the Industrial Revolution as the best place to innovate. Invention came to be seen as a viable and attractive career path, not just financially but in terms of the social standing that could result from it – something that was purposefully cultivated by those seeking to improve the country’s technological prospects.”
Turning to regulation, the Government is making the bold promise to reduce the administrative costs of regulation for SMEs by 25%. This is quite the claim, and one which, if it is to be achieved, deserves some serious thinking.
It goes without saying that no matter who has been in power, business regulation in the UK has only grown more burdensome. Even well-intentioned drives to cut through red tape have invariably failed. And we don’t just need to slash regulation, we need nothing short of a digital transformation of government to truly allow entrepreneurs to focus on growing their businesses, not grappling with bureaucracy.
All of this is to say that Gareth Thomas MP, the Small Business Minister, has an unenviable task on his hands. Viewed more positively, however, he has a great opportunity to leave a profound legacy: the unburdening of business bureaucracy.
Easy as ABC
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Entrepreneurship, of which we are the Secretariat, is ramping up with our first project. We’re putting together an A-Z of Entrepreneurship and we want your help.
So we’re asking, what would your A-Z of Entrepreneurship include? For the letter ‘A’, would you pick – Accelerators, the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), or the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)? Or perhaps we need all three. You don’t need to give us every letter, but feel free if you’re on a roll. And good ideas for ‘J’, ‘Q’, ‘X’ and ‘Z’ would be particularly appreciated.
The ideas and some of the writing will be crowdsourced, so there may also be an opportunity to write an entry.
Reach out to Eamonn with your thoughts, and drop me an email if you want to sponsor the project.
Value Creation
Substack is now a unicorn. While we only recently moved our newsletter over to this platform, we’ve all been big fans for a while and I would recommend others make the leap of starting or moving their existing newsletter over here. We’re now benefitting hugely from the network effects of the platform, growing our readership much more quickly, which includes our network of entrepreneurs.
So who else should you follow? Well, here’s who we recommend for those interested in entrepreneurship policy, innovation and economic growth more broadly. Let us know if you think we’re missing anyone.
Buzzwords
Meera Shah, Head of M&A Advisory at Buzzacott has joined us as an Adviser. Meera specialises in advising institutional and founder shareholders through exits, whether to private equity or large corporates.
As Meera kindly writes:
“I really admire The Entrepreneurs Network’s work, particularly its strong political and policy focus which sets it apart from other broader entrepreneur groups. Since becoming a board member of the ICAEW’s Corporate Finance Faculty, I understand how important it is for industry groups to lobby for potential changes that align with and protect the best interests of their sector [...] I believe The Entrepreneurs Network’s wider remit is crucial to nurturing a founder-friendly environment in which to build and grow a business in the UK.”
If you’re keen to join Meera in supporting our mission to make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business, get in touch.