"Government struggles to understand and support small business" says Forum of Private Business

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has today called on the government to consult more widely on the needs and issues for small business.

The renewed call comes as Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee continues its sessions looking at small businesses and productivity.

Ian Cass, Managing Director of the FPB, said: “Smaller businesses are being careful, working on tight margins and not taking on too much debt, and the government seems to keep criticising them for this. All our members ask is that government makes it simpler for them to do business and to give them a level playing field to operate on, but government continues to complicate doing business and favours larger businesses. Hopefully these committee sessions will change the current status quo.”

Industry representatives at these sessions also remarked on the lack of access to digital technology for some of the SME and micro business community.

Ian Cass said: “We keep hearing about the need for small businesses to invest in new technology, but there seems little awareness of the cost implications of doing this and poor communication of the benefits for a small business of such an investment.”


About Forum of Private Business

The Forum of Private Business is a not-for-profit comprehensive business support organisation founded in 1977. Our membership is spread throughout the UK and primarily made up of companies that employ between 1-50 employees, helping them to manage employees, saving time, giving advice, support and protection where a business needs it. We are a recognised leading authority on business issues and represent the interests of business owners on many consultative bodies. We have built a solid reputation, being influential in many areas of policy-making, in changing laws that affect small businesses, and we continue to campaign for the fair treatment of businesses within the UK. Everything we do is about making sure our members’ businesses operate profitably. This means that every penny we make goes back in to supporting our members, providing the support and resources that will enable businesses to flourish and grow.


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