We have a full reaction to the Budget announcements in our news section. But here are a few brief responses:
Meera Shah, founder, Red Apple Delivery:
“Overall for small business it’s fairly positive. The only negative is
in terms of employing people - it hasn’t really given me any impetus to
hire people. It hasn’t encouraged it. I think he’s done the best he can
in very tough situation.”
Neil Westwood, founder, Magic Whiteboard:
“I’m glad he’s addressed the fuel. I would have liked more but at least
he’s done something about it. On my deliveries it’s costing me a lot
more than this time last year. If anything it needs to be reduced by
20p!
“On the tax simplification they’ve got rid of 100 pages, but when you
have 10,000 pages, it’s not many. They need to do more but it’s a good
start.”
George Derbyshire, chief executive, NFEA:
"The impression I got was that there was a range of announcements that
were relatively limited individually but together made up a worthwile
package. The measures on regulation, tax simplification, public
procurement are all worthwhile.
“I think there’s been a reasonable stab at a growth strategy across a
wide range of industry sectors and measures. Apprenticeships are a
difficult sell but once the penny drops I think lots of small businesses
can use apprentices very effectively.”
Chris Gorman, spokesman, Forum of Private Business:
“It’s a step in the right direction but we need more radical,
hard-hitting, widespread reform to really make a difference to the lives
of small business owners…
We wanted to some more drastic things in
terms of radical tax and regulatory simplification.”
Brendan Flattery, chief executive, Sage UK:
“Whether or not George Osborne’s Budget will amount to his promised
’Bonfire on Red Tape’ remains to be seen, but the three year moratorium
on regulation for small businesses can only be good news for small
business owners.
“The reduction in corporation tax is encouraging, and shows the
Government is at least trying to match words with action. But despite
this and other positive steps to encourage investment small businesses
are likely to remain cautious in their optimism. A recent Omnibus survey
we conducted found small business owners were left underwhelmed by the
government’s efforts to get banks lending to business.”
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