Small firms 'need more assistance to survive'
Commercial insurance
30th April 2010
More needs to be done by politicians to provide the conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to survive and flourish.
This is the view of John Walker, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) national chairman, who has called on whichever party is in government after May 6th to "help small firms stay afloat".
He claimed "this could be achieved by making it harder for HM Revenue & Customs to close small businesses down if they are late on tax payments" and added that further measures may include improving access to finance, ensuring all invoices are paid in a timely manner and boosting cashflow for SMEs.
Mr Walker's comments come as the latest Begbies Traynor Red Flag report indicated the number of firms facing "significant" and "critical" financial distress jumped 14 per cent year-on-year during the first three months of 2010.
Over the first quarter of the year, the data revealed such problems have risen for the second quarter in a row, potentially placing the economy in jeopardy.
Such warnings highlight the important of insurance for business, although the FSB recently released the results of a poll of 1,400 members showing 30 per cent expect conditions to improve slightly for them over the coming three months.
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