INDEPENDENT SURVEY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Does local government do enough for your business?
While the Government may talk up the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises, when it comes down to it, how much support do they actually get? Toy Shop UK finds out
THEY’VE BEEN described as the lifeblood of the High Street and have been battered and bruised during the course of the past couple of years due to the economy, but there are a plethora of small and medium sized businesses proudly flying the flag in town centres across the country. While the government
may talk about helping them out more, how much practical aid actually comes their way? Well, according to the toy indies surveyed by Toy Shop UK this month, not a great deal.
28 October
They aren’t interested in small, local business and prefer to spend time and effort on the multi-nationals and bigger businesses.
David Austin, Lobster Diecast Just nine per cent said
they received ‘lots’ of support from their local government, while the majority – 38 per cent – said they received none at all. David Austin from
Lobster Diecast comments:
“In my experience, they aren’t interested in small, local business and prefer to spend time and effort on the multi-nationals and bigger businesses. These look more impressive in headlines and press releases rather than doing
anything for small, local businesses.” Sue Needham from Cot
‘N’ Togs concurs: “We are concerned that small business rate relief is available to only a tiny percentage of shops. The government needs to be lobbied to address this unfairness and help keep smaller businesses viable.” However, Charlotte
Croser from Jollys says that her local government has led two “very supportive” initiatives, one of which was exemption from paying business rates and then a 50 per cent
reduction for the following year. Sally Brooming from The
Hare and the Broom has also had a good experience with her local government: “There is one guy who champions local businesses and he is terrific on Havant Borough Council.” The overall feeling though
from those surveyed was that local government and councils could certainly be doing more to help SMEs. As Daeron McGee from
Toy Town points out, there is often “lots of talk, lots of initiatives, no action of any use”.
www.toynews-online.biz
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100