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SMEs at odds with government goals

Sep 08 2010

Some SMEs feel their hands are tied by a lack of focused help from the government Some SMEs feel their hands are tied by a lack of focused help from the government

The government needs to focus more on helping small businesses, suggests research.

In a study by software provider Iris Software of more than 100 UK firms, a third cite employment legislation as the area of business that most needs a reduction in government regulation.

Health and safety legislation (33 per cent) is an area respondents feel the government should focus on first.

Only 27 per cent of respondents support plans to formalise flexible working hours, while just 26 per cent support the government’s plans to make pension provision and contributions compulsory among all employers in 2012.

On PAYE reforms, 85 per cent of SMEs find the current system satisfactory, suggesting little appetite for proposed changes.

Oliver Shaw, managing director of Iris SME Solutions, says: ‘What this research demonstrates is a worrying disconnect between what small businesses really need now, which is to be allowed to focus on growing their businesses and, in some cases, merely surviving, and the Government’s agenda.’

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