NEWS: 26 NOVEMBER 2015
THE AUTUMN STATEMENT - VERY LITTLE TO OFFER FOR THE SME
The Autumn Statement has now been issued by the Chancellor, which unfortunately for the SME, focused on the Government's spending review rather the business, with one commentator describing it as being “less of a mini budget and more of a trailer for what’s to come”. With many business owners agreeing that this didn’t appear to be a budget for entrepreneurs, there were however a number of proposed tax changes which will be included in the Finance Bill next year which is something.
All in all, George Osborne really had very little to offer UK Small & Medium sized businesses owners other than a sigh of relief, but nothing to cheer about. A number of the minor titbits thrown the SME’s way can be summarised as follows:
As with all of these statements, the devil is in the detail, but we imagine the very brief outline above reiterated many commentators views that disappointingly, there really wasn’t much in it to gain for the SME.
However, fortunately for UK SME’s, at Davenham Trade Finance, our ‘can do’ attitude is applied at every point of customer contact, meaning we will always do everything we can to find a financing solution to suit individual business needs. So, although the latest statement hasn’t turned out to be everything small businesses may have wished for, our unrivalled levels of personal service, paired with fast, flexible funding solutions means there’s still hope and a helping hand for SME’s as far as we’re concerned. To find out more, get in touch on 0161 837 1601 or learn more about our services.
All in all, George Osborne really had very little to offer UK Small & Medium sized businesses owners other than a sigh of relief, but nothing to cheer about. A number of the minor titbits thrown the SME’s way can be summarised as follows:
- New enterprise zones are going to be created by the Government, which will see those areas benefitting from government support to encourage growth in SME businesses and start-up’s. With the intention to also expand many of the existing hubs, the total will be taken up to 26, with more than a third being in the North of England as part of the Government's Northern Powerhouse promise – great news for us being based in Manchester! David Bywater of KPMG commented; “News of expanding enterprise zones into rural areas will be helpful and a low cost way for the Chancellor to show commitment to the small business community. However, the success of many of the existing enterprise zones is still largely untested” So far, these zones would appear to have been successful with statistics showing some 540 businesses having benefited from the support through leading to further private sector investment of over £2.2bn pounds and creating nearly 20,000 new jobs, so even more being created can only be a good thing.
- A positive increase taken from the Statement is the level of relief offered to Small Businesses for Business Rate’s is to be increased, hopefully ensuring small businesses pay lower rates through the support of the scheme, and ultimately help pay less tax on their premises. The Federation of Small Businesses National Chairman, John Allan, commented; “Small firms face a challenging start to 2016. We welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to small firms by extending the temporary doubling of Small Business Rate Relief to April 2017. Over 600,000 small and micro enterprises depend heavily on this relief”. With January being a financially tough month regardless, the scheme could play a big part in the aiding of small businesses. However, it should be kept in mind that this scheme does only last until April 2017 and could very easily be scrapped as was feared this time round.
- Rumours circulating regarding the scrapping of Entrepreneurs Relief were incorrect – thankfully! When the relief acts as a major incentive for entrepreneurs to start up and build businesses, there was quite literally relief all across the UK for small businesses we imagine. However, the Government has raised concerns over how the relief is used and therefore will be looking to investigate those who abuse the rules.
- Good news for small house builders, who have also been given a helping hand as it was announced reforms will be put in place to relax certain planning rules.
As with all of these statements, the devil is in the detail, but we imagine the very brief outline above reiterated many commentators views that disappointingly, there really wasn’t much in it to gain for the SME.
However, fortunately for UK SME’s, at Davenham Trade Finance, our ‘can do’ attitude is applied at every point of customer contact, meaning we will always do everything we can to find a financing solution to suit individual business needs. So, although the latest statement hasn’t turned out to be everything small businesses may have wished for, our unrivalled levels of personal service, paired with fast, flexible funding solutions means there’s still hope and a helping hand for SME’s as far as we’re concerned. To find out more, get in touch on 0161 837 1601 or learn more about our services.
