A matter currently being discussed at the House of Commons is the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. Put forward by Vince Cable back in June and set to be implemented in 2015, the bill aims to aid SMEs’ access to finance, tackle problems created by delayed payments and assist them in expanding overseas.
A recent study from equity specialists Key Capital Partners suggests that SME owners are giving it their backing too. According to the research, 95% of them support the proposals, and 80% believe it will help them get the funding they need.
Have we been here before?
It’s not the first effort by the Coalition government to provide assistance to the UK’s small businesses. The Funding For Lending scheme has been in place for a couple of years now and, despite some reports that take-up of it has dropped, this year’s Budget revealed that further money would be ploughed into it.
A downside picked up within the survey was that more than 50% of small businesses still think that they don’t get enough assistance, particularly in the way of tax alleviation and funding towards staff training.
Even so, the bill has clearly been warmly met by the vast majority of Britain’s SMEs, who will no doubt be tuned in to the committee stage discussions taking place in the House of Commons in early November. For those looking to make themselves heard, business owners’ views on the bill are also being welcomed via the Parliament.uk website, with issues raised possibly being aired at upcoming Commons discussions.
Making the best of the bill
Ideas on how to gain access to funding are often best put forward by people outside of the day-to-day running of the company, who might be able to review patterns within a company’s accounts and set strategies on the best route for a particular business to take. A team of in-house accountants may be able to keep records up to date, but might struggle to have the time or knowledge to use the figures as a basis for company direction and growth.
In order for this to be done professionally, many SME owners look to financial outsourcing so that some or all of their accountancy obligations are cared for by a professional team with the time, skills and systems to give informed advice.
When proposals like the Small Business Bill come into effect, the value of working alongside such a specialist can really speak volumes.