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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Small Business Unhappy in the UK

We’ve recently noted some polling showing that optimism or confidence has fallen among U.S. small business owners.

Things could be even worse in the United Kingdom. Check out an article titled “Small Businesses Face ‘Negative Growth’ Threat” by Rolland Gribben in the United Kingdom’s Telegraph from March 11.

Consider the following from the article:

John Wright, FSB [Federation of Small Business] chairman, said a series of damaging tax rises and increases in red tape had totally undermined the government's position with the small business community. Family business owners were facing a mountain of new paperwork while the fiasco over capital gains tax rules and the increases in corporation tax for small companies had also undermined the government's credibility, he added. …

[Mr. Phil Orford from the Forum of Private Business] said: "This government has undertaken a sustained attack on smaller businesses and their owners for too long. We are close to the tipping point where a sector that provides innovation and drive to the UK's economy is going to be pushed into a long period of negative growth."


Apparently, many politicians on both sides of the “pond” don’t get it on small business.

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