business supportResearch carried out by the retail bank, Aldermore has found that four out of five entrepreneurs in the UK believe that the government could do more to support their small business.

1,799 people were surveyed, including 642 small business owners and among them, 79% said that existing initiatives either don’t provide enough support to small and medium enterprises or they’re simply not aware of the help that’s available to them.

Apprenticeship levy funds go towards the training of apprentices for example but only 36% of SMEs polled were aware of the funding and only 4% had accessed this form of government support.

A similar pattern emerged with capital allowances, with 27% of respondents aware of the scheme and only 5% utilising it to support their business.

Government-funded startup loans were on the radars of 40% of those polled, but just 6% had used them.

The research also revealed that 54% of business owners hold less than £1,000 in cashflow, while 15% are experiencing cashflow problems.

Ewan Edwards, head of savings at Aldermore, commented:

“Small businesses represent five million enterprises employing over 15 million people in the UK, but the current system of support suffers from needless complexity, low awareness and low take-up.”

He continued:

“There is a clear gap in the market for providing well-targeted small business support, such as simple tax breaks and a taxpayer-funded cash bonus to help them get started.”

At PKB, we’re experts at helping small and medium enterprises get the most out of their business. We understand that accounting can be confusing, especially if you simply don’t have the resources to dedicate a lot of time to this area of the business.

 

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Whether you’re looking for ways to reduce your tax bill, you would like to know which government schemes you’re eligible for or you need some help getting your accounts in order, please don’t hesitate to give PKB Accountants a call and we will be more than happy to help.

 

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