UK Handmade are very pleased to support and be one of the case studies for the fantastic Get Britain Trading campaign and this morning we received a printed version of their manifesto. Check out our case study profile and you will see the beautiful, smiley face of our Creative Director, Karen Jinks.
We believe that this country is supported by a patchwork of small businesses, creative and otherwise doing their little bit by paying their taxes, creating jobs and generally supporting the economy and it's high time that this amazing network of small businesses received the recognition it so richly deserves. This is why this campaign is something that is close to our hearts because it's all about raising awareness of the huge contribution that small firms make to the UK's economy.
"Few people realise that out of all the businesses in the UK, a whopping 99.3% are small firms (those with between 0 and 49 employees). These small businesses also employ almost half (48.2%) of the UK workforce and account for over a third of turnover (35.7%). The contribution that small firms make to our economy is often massively underestimated."
In December last year Get Britain Trading surveyed 5,200 small businesses to find out about their plans for 2011 and beyond. Here's what they said:
- 35% were going to be focusing on survival,
- 28% on consolidation,
- just 31% on growth and
- 3% on high growth.
"What Get Britain Trading aims to do is to enable a much higher percentage of businesses in the UK to focus on growth in order to provide the economy with the strength it needs. 74% of businesses would like their elected representatives to focus their work on small businesses in their constituencies in order to Get Britain Trading."
Get Britain Trading are lobbying the Government to take action to Get Britain Trading by enabling small businesses to buy and sell more profitably on a local, national and international basis. As part of this they are pushing for:
- Better access to finance
- Better payment practices
- Simplified tax system
- Simplifying employment law
- Better provision of training and skills to support small businesses
- Assistance for export
- Procurement and business support
download the full manifesto here.
You can join in the discussion over in their
Linkedin group by putting your own ideas forward about what can be done to Get Britain Trading or tell them YOUR stories!
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