Last week, we hit panic stations. We’re turning down work because we’re just too busy. Which is all good news.
But what for businesses that are facing up to the harsher realities of the recession? Apparently the government has put lots of measures in place to help businesses get by. Several local Business Link organisations have got extra funding arrangements on offer. There’s also an Agency called the Business Payment Support Service, to whom you can apply to have your VAT, corporation tax, National Insurance or other HMRC payments temporarily put on hold.
All this is jolly good, but I certainly knew nothing about them – and I spend quite a bit of my time thinking about business issues.
Business Link’s page, helpfully titled “Real help with finance now” doesn’t mention the Support Service or the Small Loans Guarantee Scheme; and appears to cater primarily for businesses with a turnover beyond £1million; which won’t do much for those further down the scale. It does however offer a link to another page which does help – a simple Q&A process which will explain which of the government’s assistance schemes your own business is actually eligible for. Smart, although my own business appears to be ineligible for just about everything.
I bring all this up because the British Library’s Business and IP Centre (truly a gem and one of the most consistently reliable sources of good business advice I can recommend) has just brought out a report calling for more government help for small businesses; specifically decent tax breaks and a subsidised national internship programme.
This week is Global Entrepreneurship Week – which also coincides with the PM delivering his last Queen’s Speech before the next election. What better time for us to see some new support for people in business?
Filed under: current affairs, finance | Tagged: business, business funding, business link, downturn, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, finance, funding, Gordon Brown, government, recession, run a business, start a business
