Forum of Private Business welcomes stage 1’s Brexit deal but urges government to properly understand the needs of business as it heads into a trade negotiation

Welcoming today’s announcement of a deal at stage one of the Brexit negotiations, the Forum of Private Business is calling on the government to better understand the needs of British business as it begins trade negotiations.

Ian Cass, Managing Director of the Forum, said: “We’re delighted the initial wrangling is over and that the talks will now be about trade, but before negotiations start on this we feel that the government needs to better understand what businesses want from a trade deal and how they can best support them, which is something we’ve outlined in our 'Get Britain Trading’ campaign."

As part of the Get Britain Trading campaign the FPB are offering politicians the chance to work alongside businesses so they can better understand the struggles they deal with and provide the support they desperately need from government.

Ian Cass added: “If British business is to succeed post-Brexit then we need to get the right deal. That means politicians listening to the business community now.”

Notes:

The ‘Get Britain Trading’ campaign has six key elements:

1. Helping to improve the performance and productivity of members

2. Re-launching the ‘Hall of Shame’ to highlight bad behaviour of UK businesses, which damage the trust and reputation of UK PLC.

3. Ethical and compliant behaviour from businesses, for which the Forum has developed an Ethical Workbook and a Compliance Handbook, both of which are being circulated to members in the coming months.

4. Creation of a Business Partner Scheme, with members registering to host Ministers, local MPs, Civil Servants and Educational Establishments to come and work within their businesses for a few hours, and gain a deeper understanding of the issues that they face on a day to day basis.

5. Provision of clear and direct feedback from members to Government with a view to ensuring all initiatives from Government are kept simple and workable.

6. Lobbying for a smooth Brexit transition and for a favourable post-Brexit business environment, across the Forum’s already issued Post Brexit Plan.


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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