Public urges Burnham to support UK small businesses

In the wake of Andy Burnham’s welcome to Number 10 Downing Street, the small business community is eager to see how this new leadership team will back them. Burnham has already announced a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, clubs, and live music venues, so small businesses are hopeful to hear what support will be available.

Michelle Ovens CBE, CEO and Founder of Small Business Britain, commented on this latest announcement: “It’s encouraging to see the Prime Minister announce business rates cuts for pubs, social clubs, and live music venues, which are important anchors of our local high street. Many of the UK’s 5.7 million small businesses are based on our high streets, and this should be the start of wider support for businesses that are so vital to our local communities.”

New research has found that 90% of adults in the UK would like to see the Government do more to support small businesses in the UK. The research comes at a time when tracking data from Novuna Business Finance has revealed that the percentage of small businesses predicting growth this month has fallen to its lowest level since the month when the UK went into the first COVID lockdown in spring 2020.

The poll of a representative sample of 1,000 small business owners revealed that only 24% predict growth for the next three-months – down from 28% last quarter and 35% in the months following the Labour Government winning the General Election in July 2024. With growth forecasts falling this month, 39% of small business owners said they are prioritising managing fixed costs (39%) in an attempt to secure future growth. Only 10% are looking to expand into new markets and just 9% plan to hire new staff.

Novuna Business Finance polled 2,000 adults to discover how important Government small business support is, and what they would like to see the Government do to help small businesses.

Financial pressures topped the list of public priorities. More than a quarter of respondents (27%) called for lower business rates, while a quarter (25%) wanted to see corporation tax cut for small businesses. Just over one in five (22%) called for a reduction in National Insurance – a levy that, following recent increases, 49% of small business owners say has already hurt their finances and growth prospects.

Energy costs were a close second concern. The survey came in the same week the government announced it would scrap VAT on household electricity bills from October, and more than one in five respondents (23%) said small businesses should get similar relief, in the form of a cap on energy costs. An equal proportion (23%) called for significant government investment to revive the UK’s high streets.

The public also had views on the international trading environment. Just under one in five (19%) said they would like to see Brexit reversed and the UK rejoin the EU, while 16% wanted the government to cut the red tape small businesses face when trading overseas.

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On longer-term support, a fifth of respondents (20%) called for greater investment in apprenticeships and a wider rollout of apprenticeship schemes, while 18% said more training and development programmes would benefit small business owners and their staff.

Jo Morris, Head of Insight at Novuna Business Finance comments: “What stands out from our recent research is that small businesses matter to everyone … People deal with small businesses most days, a strong small business sector helps communities work well – and many consumers themselves either run or work for a small business – a sector that accounts for around 47% of total private sector employment.

“There have been a lot of positive messages of hope in recent weeks, on what is possible … With the right help from Government on tackling rising costs and the tax burden, there is hope for the future.”