Forum of Private Business outlines 8 actions for Boris and his new government
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has outlined 8 action points it believes should be top of the new government’s priority list, following Boris Johnson’s entrance into Downing Street last week.
Ian Cass, Managing Director of the FPB, said: “We would like the new Prime Minister to address these 8 key issues for small businesses and take these 8 actions within his first 100 days.”
Mr Cass has been working alongside Small Business Commissioner Paul Uppal on the issue of late payments, and this forms the first request on the Forum’s ‘wish list’.
The Forum is asking the government to make 30 days a legal requirement for payment of invoices once work is completed, and to immediately provide the small business commissioner with the power to investigate without complaint and the ability to fine consistent poor payers.
Other requests refer to Britain’s high streets, The Forum’s ‘Protect Your Pub’ campaign, and Brexit among others.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The extensive list of requests made by the FPB is as follows:
1. Late Payment: Make 30 days a legal requirement for payment of invoices once work is completed, immediately provide the small business commissioner with the power to investigate without complaint and the ability to fine consistent poor payers.
2. Protect your Pub: Revisit the pub code and make true MRO an achievable option with a PUB code adjudicator who has the powers to adjudicate and is trusted by the tenanted trade who he is supposed to champion.
3. Restore the High Street: Make restoring Britain’s high streets part of the UK’s industrial strategy.
4. Rural Strategy: Identify the real issues for the rural rather than the urban economy and make plans in the industrial strategy to address them.
5. Government policy and regulation: Reduce regulation, look at standards as an alternative, ensure regulation takes into account the impact on small business and reduce the time to review regulation to every 6 months so it can change and evolve over time.
6. Skills and Education: Train school children in change management, creativity and innovation, so we can handle the massive changes impacting on society and business. Focus on practical skills as well as purely academic achievement.
7. Transport and Infrastructure: Focus spending in the North of England and in East to West transport links as well as North to South.
8. Brexit: Get it done one way or another, people are sick of it. Get Brexit done so we can get out of the current inertia and get on with growing and developing our businesses and lives.