There are around 4.8 million small businesses and freelancers in the UK with red tape being a major deciding factor when the time comes to expand. Almost a third of the ones that had hoped to expand were put off by excessive regulations.
According to research conducted by the Forum of Private Business, red tape costs small firms in the south-east of England £1,403 million every year. Of this amount, an estimated £309 million is spent on health and safety legislation, while dealing with employment law paperwork costs £361 million.
Mike Cherry, Policy Chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses believes that slashing red tape will encourage UK business to take the steps towards expansion.
“Regulation has long been stifling business growth so these plans to put an end to the excessive legislation that choke small businesses is welcome news. It is a real victory that our calls to simplify the regulation system have finally been heard,” he explained.
“Small firms have repeatedly said that the burden of regulation and the time it takes to comply with is just too much and could prevent them from taking on staff – and stunts economic growth.”
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, also welcomed the review and said that new legislation due to come into force over the next four years would have potentially cost businesses more than £11 billion.
It should also ease the stress placed on small firms. Earlier this year when 500 small business owners were questioned about managing their firms, 81 per cent said red tape and legislation were the major factors causing them day-to-day stress.
Similar Posts:
- SBA offering aid and grants to SMBs
- The Coalition plans for the future of small firms
- Small Business Loan Doubles with Business Growth Fund
- Is now a good time to plan for the future?
- Software-as-a-Service adoption by largest CPA firms in the US
