'Budget will not have real impact on SMEs', say FSB

29/03/2011

Following the chancellor's Budget last week a survey from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has revealed that the changes will not have a real impact on firms.

The poll, Voice of Small Business, found that 45 per cent of respondents said the government proposals would have no impact at all on their day-to-day running of their company.

Four in ten of the 800 members surveyed said their firms would be no worse off, but crucially no better off.

John Walker, national chairman of the FSB, said: "The Budget was pro-business and we are pleased that the government has listened to some of our concerns and has extended small business rate relief and scrapped the planned 1p rise in fuel duty."

He added that while the FSB welcomed the introduction of Enterprise Zones in areas across the UK, there was a missing link in the Budget with measures to help all UK firms take on staff and grow their business.

However, half of business owners were happy with the reduction in Corporation Tax, while 40 per cent feel that the increase in Approved Mileage Allowance and the freeze on new domestic regulation would have the most positive impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Tom Clougherty, executive director at the Adam Smith Institute, said: "Changes to thresholds do little to help the overall picture."

Although Gavin Oldham, chief executive of The Share Centre feels that the Budget is very solid with major winners being SMEs, charities and business in general.

He added that the reduction in Corporation Tax and the programme of tax simplification will help firms in the medium to long term and fuel duty reforms will help SMEs throughout the UK.

A third of those surveyed by the FSB believe the Budget will have a positive effect on the economy, however, when 52 per cent of them looked at the fuel stabiliser they believe it does not go far enough to protect them from volatile price increases.

Posted by Nicola Richards