Forum of Private Business welcomes deferred Base Rate rise but says that “business needs support on the ground now”

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has welcomed the Bank of England’s decision to defer a rise in interest rates, but is using the news to call on government to do more to help the business community.

Ian Cass, Managing Director of the FPB, said: “A rise in interest rates is in the pipeline, but all the reports point to it being no earlier than May now. If that’s correct it’s welcome news for the UK’s small businesses, but SME’s and other businesses do need greater support. We know a Brexit transition deal has been agreed- we now need to see what the government will provide in the way of support for businesses leading up to, and during, this transition period and beyond.”

The Forum is asking the government to back its Get Britain Trading campaign, which offers politicians the chance to work alongside businesses so they can better understand both the struggles they deal with and the support they desperately need from government.

ENDS

Notes:

The ‘Get Britain Trading’ campaign has six key elements:

1. Helping to improve the performance and productivity of members

2. Re-launching the ‘Hall of Shame’ to highlight bad behaviour of UK businesses, which damage the trust and reputation of UK PLC.

3. Ethical and compliant behaviour from businesses, for which the Forum has developed an Ethical Workbook and a Compliance Handbook, both of which are being circulated to members in the coming months.

4. Creation of a Business Partner Scheme, with members registering to host Ministers, local MPs, Civil Servants and Educational Establishments to come and work within their businesses for a few hours, and gain a deeper understanding of the issues that they face on a day to day basis.

5. Provision of clear and direct feedback from members to Government with a view to ensuring all initiatives from Government are kept simple and workable.

6. Lobbying for a smooth Brexit transition and for a favourable post-Brexit business environment, across the Forum’s already issued Post Brexit Plan.


About Forum of Private Business

The Forum of Private Business is a not-for-profit comprehensive business support organisation founded in 1977. Our membership is spread throughout the UK and primarily made up of companies that employ between 1-50 employees, helping them to manage employees, saving time, giving advice, support and protection where a business needs it. We are a recognised leading authority on business issues and represent the interests of business owners on many consultative bodies. We have built a solid reputation, being influential in many areas of policy-making, in changing laws that affect small businesses, and we continue to campaign for the fair treatment of businesses within the UK. Everything we do is about making sure our members’ businesses operate profitably. This means that every penny we make goes back in to supporting our members, providing the support and resources that will enable businesses to flourish and grow.


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