Are they doing enough?

Lord Peter Mandelson, the business secretary, has announced that the government will be continuing its commitment to providing aid and support to Britain’s small businesses - this announcement comes shortly after the up-roar in the small business industry in response to the recently announced budget which has been said to have failed the small firms in the UK.

Lord Mandelson highlighted the governments pledge at the Small Business Finance Forum, hailing the Real Help programme that has been in place for small businesses.  Lord Mandelson also sounded hopeful for the future claiming that the government was investigating new and fresh ways of helping the small business industry in the country.

The Real Help scheme has already managed to come to the aid of more than 2 and a half thousand small businesses by providing loans totally just under £290 million.  The loans through the scheme have been approved through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme.

“These measures continue to show that government is providing real and targeted support to those businesses which need it most. Businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and I am determined that we do everything we can to support them through the economic downturn,” said Lord Mandelson at the Forum.

The growth of the small business industry…

Furthermore, Lord Mandelson has announced the government’s hopes to work towards aiding the growth of the small business industry - however is this all wasted noise from the business secretary?

The budget, recently announced by Alistair Darling, wasn’t very helpful to small businesses around Britain - furthermore the budget totally ignored start-up businesses: the same start-ups that should be given a boost to help the long-term growth of the small business industry.

Both Darling and Mandelson are claiming that the government is pledged to growing the economy out of trouble, but their messages have not been reflected in the budget that has managed to totally fail small businesses in the country.

Don’t forget us…

Small businesses have been left feeling slightly shoved to the back while the housing market and the environment issues have managed to trigger the government’s interests.

Both the FSB and the FPB have slammed the budget for letting small businesses down.  Furthermore small businesses have been claiming that they have experienced difficulties with the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme which has made things difficult.

Are the small businesses in Britain being forgotten about?  Are they being tossed to one side while the other, more popular industries thrive?  A survey taken earlier in 2009 found that a staggeringly small 8 per cent of small businesses have witnessed banks make the Enterprise Finance Guarantee available to them.

The small business sector was described by John Wright, the chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, as the backbone of the country in a letter to the government but it would appear that we are still waiting to see some serious action to save the sector…

What should be happening?

Let us know what you think the government should be doing to help your small business…

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