conservatives and the sme
Conservatives challenge government
on provision of advice and information
for the smaller business
Shadow Minister for smaller businesses, Mark Prisk MP, explains that a Conservative administration
would deliver services which respond to the expressed needs of the business community
Science programmes flood their audience with images which
much of its thinking to paper in Solutions for
challenge the imagination – like the footage of oil-laden tankers
Business, and announced plans for a financial
guarantee scheme intended to give smaller
that take five miles to stop and three miles to turn. The ‘message’
enterprises greater access to funds. We ex-
filtering through in that instance is that large, dynamic entities
amined the strategy on page 66.
have a momentum which prevents them from changing direction.
Tinkering with the controls in the engine room will have minimal Effect of a change of government
effect if the supertanker encounters a storm: remaining stationary
Rather more important is whether the SME
is not an option, so the only course open is to keep sailing ahead
sector would be influenced materially by a
and endure the short-term discomfort.
change of government. Executives of smaller
businesses must necessarily take a view on
The energy that drives forward a body of some the approach that an incoming Conservative
4.7 million small and medium-size enterprises administration could take before determining
in Britain has never been lost no matter how how best to move their own businesses forward.
desperate the conditions under which they Should they be looking for a new adminis-
operate might be. tration to focus on qualitative support such as
There has always been a tier of sole traders; greater access to training and information, or
of partnerships; of private limited companies; of be seeking lower tax rates and greater allow-
smaller publicly traded companies, which pro- ances to boost cash flow?
vide the majority of the UK’s employment and The SME will continue to function as an
50% of its GDP. Despite – or perhaps because of economic entity whatever the complexion of
– their diversity, they have a collective dynamic the government at Westminster, but decisions
which sustains this broad swathe across the over timing and employment strategy and in-
economy whatever the prevailing conditions. vestment may well be influenced by the party
Can government policy materially influence in power after the next election.
either the behaviour or the commercial suc- Knowledge that today’s Opposition could be
cess of the smaller business community by in favour of freeing up liquidity by deferring VAT,
fine-tuning the regulatory and fiscal regimes for example, might encourage entrepreneurs to
in which it operates? The present Government spend less time sourcing liquidity, which they
argues that this is possible. It has committed are doing at the expense of pursuing sales.
72
The Informed Executive
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