As summer comes to an end its great to see many small businesses across Cumbria getting back to business, even if things are yet far from normal says Phil Collier, Federation of Small Businesses area leader for Lancashire & Cumbria.
Businesses are pleased to be able to trade without covid restrictions, although strangely the difficulties businesses are having are still the results of the pandemic.
Staff shortages are biting in some areas and FSB is partnering with Cumbria Tourism and others locally to help try to bring potential employees together with hospitality and tourism businesses who want to recruit.
There is a debt bubble which is also putting pressure on small firms. Whether it’s covid loans, or deferred tax or rent payments, many businesses have been forced to offer IOUs over the last year and a half. These payments are now becoming due.
At the same time, support payments for furlough and the self-employed are ending. These have been a lifesaver for many firms and those who run their own business, and we hope that business has recovered enough for them to start to be able to generate adequate incomes again.
The challenge will be paying the arrears. How many businesses will be able to afford that?
The Government is keen to start recovering the nations finances, they absolutely need to balance the books when it comes to the public purse. But this must be done with great care and over the medium to long term. Choking off the recovery before it is truly underway would be a huge mistake. That is what could happen if we were to see the costs on businesses increased any time in the near future. Its vital that employer costs through national insurance are not increased. This would be a tax on jobs and deter many smaller employers from employing staff.
Equally, increasing business rates charges would be counter-productive. The grants and reliefs through the rates system over the last year and a half have kept many businesses afloat. Some reliefs are ending though in the next few months and businesses are looking at how they afford these going forward.
The imminent business rates review needs to provide some certainty and confidence to businesses on their future rates liabilities. An increase in the threshold for small business rates relief and an incentive to invest in making properties environmentally-friendly would be a great start and would be the spur to get back to profitable business that many small firms are looking for.
