Press Release

Small businesses blame government inaction over rising costs

Monday June 23 2008

Small business owners say that the government is making it more difficult for them to handle rapidly rising costs. In a poll of over 9,000 business owners by the Federation of Small Businesses, nearly 90 percent said that government policy was making already crippling business costs, such as fuel, even worse.

The overall assessment of the government’s performance on small business issues was even more damning, with 96 percent of respondents to the FSB poll saying that they were unhappy with the government’s record.

The FSB is calling for the government to help the UK’s 4.5 million small businesses cope with rising costs by using higher than expected North Sea oil tax revenues to reduce fuel duty.

John Wright, FSB National Chairman, said:

“With the end of a period of relative stability, small business confidence in the government has plummeted in the last couple of years.

“Employment, tax and fuel policies have left many small firms feeling that their concerns are not being taken seriously enough.

“All we see is government consulting big business, with small businesses being left out of the loop. But small businesses produce over half of UK GDP and it is important that their needs are addressed if we are to get through the current economic difficulties.”

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