The Budget and Small Businesses

In light of the recent budget announcements, I thought I would highlight some of the measures the government is taking to help businesses, as I believe that supporting local enterprise in a rural economy is particularly important.

The government has taken measures to kick start bank lending by increasing lending through the Funding for Lending scheme. I believe this will provide welcome support to businesses that want to expand and for those who wish to get on the housing ladder.

From 2014, the jobs tax of every business and charity will be cut by £2,000. This means that 450,000 small businesses, a third of all employers, will pay not jobs tax at all. Corporation tax will be cut even further, to 20% in April 2015.

Stamp duty is also to be abolished on shares in growth market companies and the rate of Above The Line(ABL) credit has been increased. ABL credit is a new mechanism for giving research and development relief to large companies and this will help to ensure the competitiveness of the UK and secure innovative investment.

The government also announced a limited extension of the capital gains tax holiday to encourage investors to take up the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme. The Regional Growth Fund has received an additional £350m cash boost, which will help to support even more projects and programmes which lever private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment.

To promote investment, particularly by small to medium enterprises, the government have increased the Annual Investment Allowance from £25,000 to £250,000 for qualifying investment in plant and machinery for two years from the start of this year. In addition, the temporary doubling of the Small Business rate relief scheme has been extended to April next year.

I do hope that this information is of interest and that it demonstrates the comprehensive approach the government is taking to help businesses start, grow and flourish.


Small Businesses

Helping Hands

In October the government announced that those claiming Job seekers Allowance (JSA) would have access to the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) from the first day of their claim instead of having to wait six months, as was the previous arrangement. The motivation behind this was to try and ensure that JSA claimants who wanted to start their own business could get the support they needed as quickly as possible.

Participants in the NEA scheme are given a volunteer business mentor who provides them with guidance as they develop their business plan and through the start of trading. Once business plans have been approved and trading has begun, financial support is then also accessible. I know the NEA scheme is such a positive one and I was so pleased to hear about how successful it was for the Keeler family from Kingsbridge.

Keith Keeler was unfortunately made redundant but he did not lose his enthusiasm and applied for the NEA scheme. Working flat out, along with his wife Sue and son Andrew, they created their own successful home maintenance operation – Helping Hands! Supported by an advisor from Totnes Jobcentre and a business mentor, just three months later Helping Hands (07873624225) has already had many satisfied customers and I am sure there will be many more to come.

It is so nice to be able to share a success story, both in terms of the New Enterprise Allowance and the very enterprising Keeler family!

 

Tor Ecology

I had only recently connected with Dr Sarah Wollaston on Twitter when she tweeted a link to the Meet Your Local Buyer event, Plymouth. It promised a series of helpful short procurement seminars which were to be held throughout the day at the Guildhall. An IT room was also available to help register on the relevant Council procurement sites.

Having only recently set up a local ecological consultancy Tor Ecology it seemed like the perfect event and so I registered to attend immediately!

I arrived at the Guildhall with some time to spare before the first seminar (The Seven Myths of Public Procurement). I spent this time meeting representatives from various Councils and some larger businesses who were able to provide information about their procurement processes. It was very interesting to have an opportunity to be face to face with these buyers. I then attended several seminars (including H&S Made Easy and How to Win Contracts within the Public Sector) all of which I found to be very informative and useful.

I was really impressed with all the help, information and guidance that was provided at this event. I learnt that there are several main 'portals' for suppliers (Supply the SouthWest and Sell2Plymouth - for public sector) and that other large private/public sector companies also gain suppliers in this way too. Clearly, it is very important for me to understand, as a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) how to interface as a supplier with companies/councils.

All in all I have been really impressed with the help that has been made available to me as an SME in the Devon area – I have attended a free financial planning workshop run by BIP at the Totnes WorkHub. David Hinshelwood from BIP also advised me that I have access to a financial advisor who can visit me for half a day to help with financial planning, which I'm sure will be invaluable. Celia Minoughan from the WorkHub put me in contact with a women's business group who meet every month in Totnes, and I am also signed up to attend another free course hosted by the HMRC at the WorkHub.

I would encourage any new businesses within the Devon area to seek out these opportunities as I have certainly found them to be extremely valuable.