Speaking at the meeting, which was hosted by the
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA) and the New Statesman, Sue Almond, the ACCA’s director of external affairs, set out the three main issues for the ACCA’s members: access to finance, access to talent and issues around the taxation system.
Small businesses needed access to the right mix of funding, she said. It was currently too short term and largely unavailable to start ups. She added that business needed a talented and well educated workforce.
The ACCA was also a proud training organisation for businesses, she explained, training the accountants of the future. Unfortunately “the UK is starting to lose our place as an educator of the world’s leaders” said Almond, adding that some messages on student visas being sent out by the government gave the impression that the UK was no longer welcoming overseas students.
She argued that business operated completely differently to how it did 20 years ago, said Almond, arguing that government now “needs to be brave and move to address the reality of business and the tax system”.
Nora Senior from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) welcomed positive changes including research and development credits and the reduction of air passenger duty (APD) on long-haul flights, adding that the BCC believed this should be reduced further or completely.
Senior believed the UK needed to take more brave moves to simplify that tax system as well as improving infrastructure. The UK was potentially falling behind its global competitors because its importing and national distribution systems were not fit for purpose.
On the topic of Europe, she warned against uncertainty, saying the BCC wanted “a clear understanding of EU decision making” before any upcoming referendum.
She concluded: “We need to engage with consumers to get more into the export market.”
Mike Cherry, the UK policy chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) noted that whilst politicians liked quick initiatives, they were not good for business. FSB members were using their quarterly surveys to ask politicians to look into more medium and long term solutions, he said.
He argued that whatever government was elected in 2015 should create the post of Small Business Administrator, a role that he said had worked well in the USA for 60 years.
He called for politicians to send out simple, clear messaging to business and to avoid costly duplication.
Whilst access to finance remained an issue for small and micro businesses, Cherry said the FSB remained supportive of the British Business Bank which Business Secretary Vince Cable had supported.
Finally he called for a greater focus on skills and quality apprenticeships, as well as a simpler enterprise tax system to assist businesses:
“Clearly reform is required to ensure government understand how the economy works for small businesses”.
Business Secretary Vince Cable set out his views on business tax.
“We do need a tax system which is business friendly.” He said the UK still had too much regulation but had saved £1bn for business. However, “we can do more” he stated.
He described the current skills shortage in the UK, with the oil and gas industry raiding the car supply sector for skilled workers. There was also a shortage of brick layers and crane drivers, Cable added, saying this demonstrated how the government still had more progress to make on skills training.
Cable said he had asked the Chancellor George Osborne to consider business rate changes in the Autumn Statement. He was hopeful that Osborne would take notice of this request from the business community.