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 The Federation of Small Businesses is the UK’s largest direct member business organisation. It exists to promote and protect the interests of the self-employed and owners of small firms.
The FSB was formed in 1974 and now has over 190,000 members across 31 regions and 300 branches. Today the organisation offers a unique combination of lobbying activity and member benefits.
Its members enjoy an increasing array of business services including a 24 hour helpline and special legal protection, while its lobbying arm applies pressure on MPs, Government and Whitehall, lobbies politicians in their constituencies and puts the FSB viewpoint over to the media.
The FSB is non-profit making and non-party political. As such it is widely recognised as the independent voice of small and medium sized businesses in the UK.
The FSB has a strong track record of influencing key decision makers. But with small businesses still facing numerous obstacles to growth, the organisation is pursuing the powers-that-be on a number of fronts.
For example, some 2,700 plcs – including household names such as Manchester United and Cable and Wireless – were held to account by the FSB when it cast light on how long it took them to pay their bills. The list of poor payers will be updated on a regular basis with a web-based league table system.
The tables show that not only do large public companies continue to take an average of almost 50 days to pay suppliers, but that many are breaking company law by not revealing their payment times.
On these and other issues, the FSB will continue fighting for a better deal for small businesses.
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