Mid-sized businesses should be given special help to unlock their potential in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, according to financial and business adviser Grant Thornton.
The firm is calling on the Chancellor to announce measures specifically designed to help mid-sized businesses (MSBs) in a bid to boost the 海角视频 economy.
The call comes in the wake of Grant Thornton’s Autumn Statement survey, conducted with the leaders of mid-sized businesses, which saw 48 per cent supporting the idea of a single and dedicated HMRC contact who knew their businesses.
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More than a quarter (28 per cent) said they would also welcome being able to speak to event-specific specialists.
Finding and training the right talent was also a concern, with almost nearly 40 per cent of respondents identifying their biggest skills shortage as being technical skills, followed by management, sales, finance and marketing and digital media.
Of those who do not have apprentices, 50 per cent said a National Insurance Contribution exemption would make them more likely to take one on.
In addition a third of businesses said they would be more likely to consider exporting to a new emerging market such as China or India if the exploratory costs qualified for an export tax credit.
The survey echoes regional views, with 58 per cent of delegates who attended Grant Thornton’s last Agents of Growth summit in Birmingham citing skills shortages as the biggest barrier to growth and access to capital highlighted by 30 per cent. Seventy-three per cent said employment costs such as national insurance and minimum wage were the top cost impacting their businesses, followed by the corporate tax regime.
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David Hillan, head of corporate tax for Grant Thornton in the West Midlands, said: “In order to maintain and accelerate economic growth in the 海角视频, we have submitted to government a paper outlining why they should use the Autumn Statement to back the MSBs and high growth firms which can make the biggest contribution to wealth and jobs growth.
“Our Agents of Growth research has already shown the MSB segment has continued to be disproportionately valuable throughout the downturn, contributing £305 billion to 海角视频 GDP in 2013 alone. Over the last five years their employment growth has also outperformed both larger and smaller businesses.”
In the West Midlands, the number of MSBs grew between 2012 and 2013 by 5.5 per cent to 2,880 – the largest increase of any region. In 2013 the region’s MSBs employed 349,000 people and were responsible for a combined turnover of £46 billion, up by seven per cent from 2012.
Mr Hillan added: “All this growth has been achieved without any targeted government support and is indicative of the huge yet untapped potential of the MSB segment that specific policy initiatives could help unlock.”