Today’s Policy Update looks at the Small Business Strategy, or, to use its government-approved title, Backing your Business: Our Plan for Small and Medium Sized Businesses.
Regular readers of our work will know that Britain’s 5.5 million small and medium-sized businesses (defined as any business that employs fewer than 250 people) make up the overwhelming majority of the total business population – fully 99.8% at the last count. They’re responsible for three fifths of total employment, or 16.6 million jobs in absolute terms. And they account for just over half (52%) of all private sector turnover – a staggering £2.8 trillion.
In short, small businesses are a big deal – and getting policy right here matters. Only by properly supporting our nation’s fledgling startups can we hope that they stand a chance of scaling into mature firms of a significant size.
In this Policy Update, we’ll go over some of the new ideas and more developed policies in the Strategy, and explain what they might mean for Britain’s entrepreneurial community.