Mortgage Introducer revealed last month the FSA Small Business Practitioner Panel had reported disappointment that many of the significant issues and anxieties for smaller firms had not been addressed by the regulator.
Now the CBI analysis of the government’s efforts to help small businesses revealed that four of the seven targets set by the government’s Small Business Service (SBS) have been missed.
These include improving regulation, building an enterprise culture, encouraging entrepreneurs in disadvantaged areas, and creating a positive environment for growth.
Sir Digby Jones, director-general of the CBI, said: “With more than half the targets missed it is clear more effort and co-ordination is needed across government – especially to ensure the work of the SBS is not undermined by other departments in Whitehall.
“The SBS is not to blame for these results. How can an enterprise economy break through when the government presides over systemic, stifling red tape, a discredited planning regime and a society that is becoming more politically correct and risk-averse by the day?”
In particular, the CBI, which speaks for 200,000 smaller businesses, found that firms cited more and more red tape as a major obstacle to growth and, while progress has been made to help businesses access finance, many still struggle to find afford-able or appropriate sources of capital.
Stephen Atkins, group compliance director at Freedom Finance and a member of the FSA Small Business Practitioner Panel, said: “The concern is small firms will be increasingly squeezed out by regulation.
“The real threat is all the red tape coming out of Europe. 70 per cent of the directives from the EU will have an impact on small firms, making it more difficult for them to run their businesses in accordance with regulation.”
