Celebrating and supporting small businesses – a powerhouse for local economic growth

Across Dulwich and West Norwood the bedrock of our economy is our small business community. Of the 3,500 businesses in the constituency, 95% employ fewer than 10 people. These businesses employ thousands of local people and add richness and diversity to our communities. Some of them are local institutions – Nour Cash and Carry in Brixton, Pretty’s Greengrocer which has been in East Dulwich for 40 years, independent book shops and hardware stores where you can buy anything you could possibly need. And hidden away on our many small industrial estates are businesses which demonstrate talent, craftsmanship and innovation – the company which makes sets and props for West End theatres, a paint manufacturing business established in 1884, catering firms, software companies, designers, micro-breweries and many others.

As the PPC for Dulwich and West Norwood, understanding the needs and priorities of our small business community is a key part of representing the whole of the constituency and exploring how our communities can address the tough challenges presented by the recession. Over the past few weeks I’ve undertaken a survey of small businesses across the constituency and the results show that Labour has a strong set of proposals for the general election which will really make a difference, but we could go even further.

The survey covered approximately 100 small businesses, and the responses showed that the last four years have been tough for them – only 38% had managed to grow during that time and many spoke of the challenges they faced from on-line competition, rising rents and other cost increases. It was also clear from the responses that there are some key commitments which would make all the difference.

Levelling the tax playing field – many small businesses felt the injustice that large international businesses such as Amazon and Google are able to pay very little tax in the UK, while smaller businesses with far narrower profit margins are doing the right thing and paying their taxes. Closing the tax loopholes which allow large corporations to avoid paying their fair share would make it easier for our small businesses to compete.

Levelling the procurement playing field – public sector organisations often have very complicated procurement rules making it difficult for small businesses to compete for contracts. This means that too many local services are provided by large corporations rather than local businesses – simplifying the rules would make a big difference for small businesses and would maximise the impact of public expenditure on the local economy.

Protecting employment space –businesses need access to flexible and suitable premises. The Coalition government’s relaxation of planning regulations makes it very easy to convert employment space into housing, which has created a shortage of space for small businesses in many of our neighbourhoods. One of the urgent challenges therefore is to make sure that as we are building the homes which London so desperately needs, we are also protecting and providing employment space so that our small business community can continue to provide local jobs. The relaxation on the conversion of employment space to residential should be reversed so that local authorities can take a responsible view on the use of local land to provide a mixture of homes and jobs.

Access to finance – of new start-up businesses, 85% cited lack of finance as a major barrier to growth, complaining that the government Start Up Loan scheme was too complex and the minimum loan size was too large – we urgently need to simplify this system to open up access to flexible finance for small businesses.

Supporting the London Living Wage – only 50% of the businesses we spoke to currently pay the London Living Wage, but almost all of them are keen to do so and Labour’s commitment to Make Work Pay contracts which would provide tax breaks to small businesses who pay the London Living Wage to staff who were not previously receiving it was well received.

Making apprenticeships work – many businesses expressed scepticism about the current government’s apprenticeship scheme – they thought that too much of the funding went to the broker with not enough resource to support employers in taking on apprentices. For smaller businesses in particular, which often lack a significant in-house HR team, it is really important that support for employing apprentices goes direct to the employer to make sure that apprenticeships work both for the apprentice and employer.

I ran a small business for 15 years. I understand the pressures which come from being responsible for bringing in enough money each month to pay your staff, and the immense satisfaction of developing an idea into a commercial proposition and watching an organisation grow. I’ll be celebrating and supporting our small businesses today – Small Business Saturday. If we create the right environment, small businesses can be a powerhouse for locally grown, sustainable economic recovery.