The General Election 2015 – What could it mean for your business?
The build-up to the 7th May general election has been unavoidable as political parties scramble for votes from the British electorate. All of the major parties have now launched their manifestos, but what are they promising for small businesses?
The incumbents – Conservative Party
Much of the Conservative Party’s pre-election promises are focused on fledgling businesses, with commitments to helping SMEs acquire new funding. A new Help to Grow scheme is intended to provide up to £1 billion in financing for small businesses.
This is accompanied by promises to further reduce red tape with a view to lowering ‘taxes on jobs and enterprise’, and creating two million new jobs in the process. The Conservatives have also promised to continue with their review into business rates, implementing recommendations from the report by 2017.
The opposition – Labour Party
Trying to capture the votes of small business owners, the Labour Party has made a handful announcements targeted at this important demographic. Among the key promises is a commitment to cutting, then freezing business rates for the 1.5 million smallest business properties (a measure that specifically excludes the UK’s largest businesses). They also hope to encourage more SMEs to get involved with government tenders, by reducing red tape and making contracts more accessible.
There are also plans for a new ‘British Investment Bank’ which will “have the resources to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses, and will support a network of regional banks“. This is backed by a promise to raise the National Minimum Wage to “more than” £8 per hour by October 2019, and active encouragement for businesses to pay worker the “Living Wage”. Businesses who increase their employees’ wages to this higher level during the first year of a new Labour government will receive unspecified tax rebates in return.
The third party – The Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats have used their manifesto to promise a continuation of the existing British Business Bank, which provides access to funding for small businesses. They also hope to compliment this organisation with a “one-stop shop” in the HMRC which will help SMEs access additional government support.
Echoing their current coalition partners, the Conservatives, the Lib Dem manifesto also promises to continue with the business tax review, prioritising any potential cuts for SMEs. They also hope to build on the initial success of “Tech City”, by completing the roll out of high-speed broadband to urban and rural areas, to cover 99.9% of the population. This will then form the backbone of a network for technology start-ups and other SMEs across the UK.
A key focus on SME taxes
Obviously all three of the largest UK parties realise the importance of SMEs and the part they play in the British economy. It is unsurprising, then, that they have made similar general election promises, most of which focus on reducing red tape and taxes for small businesses with a view to help them grow.
SME owners will therefore be quite free to make their election choices based on other economic and social factors in the manifestos, in the hope that all parties will honour their pro-active promises to SMEs if they win the general election.
