MATT JOHNSON is chief executive of Mando Group
AS EVER, the balance between sensible legislation and wasteful bureaucracy continues to influence business performance across all sectors.
And it is not an issue entirely within our domestic control.
According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), 72% of the total cost of UK regulation now originates from Brussels.
The overall cost of red tape to businesses in the EU is €124bn euros a year and there have been more than 100,000 pages of new EU regulations since 1997, according to figures unearthed by the FSB.
It is warning that new laws and regulations take a disproportionately heavy toll on the smaller, or micro, firms making up its membership.
Examples it quotes hardly roll off the tongue, or captivate interest.
Try these: Agency Workers Directive; Regulation of working time for self-employed lorry and coach drivers; Parental Leave Directive; Pregnant Workers Directive and the Capital Rights Directive 4.
The FSB is calling on government to push for stronger changes in the EU to ensure that this constant flow of extra burdens ceases.
The calls will surely be applauded by many.Š
It’s been said countless times in recent months by many business leaders and informed commentators that it is the private sector which is best placed to lead the recovery from recession.
Austerity measures, or budget deficit reduction policies, mean the public sector will not, for the foreseeable future at least, be in a position to create as much of an economic impact as it once did. So the emphasis and focus will inevitably fall on the private sector.
And here the role and importance of SMEs will be paramount. That’s why the case being put by the FSB is so important.
FSB research shows that four in 10 small firms believe that a moratorium on new regulations would have a positive impact on their business.
If the burden is lifted from small businesses, they would be free to get on with creating wealth, jobs and growth.
The scale of the opportunity is clear when you remember that, if only 50% of the EU’s small businesses employed just one extra person, there would be an additional 10m jobs. It’s a fact that should make purveyors of red tape stop in their tracks.
