‘Labour is the party for small businesses’, at least that has been Ed Miliband’s message at a Federation of Small Business conference in Manchester today (28 March).
As the old red and blue adversaries begin their jostle for different demographics in the year-long run up to the 2015 general election, Labour has unsurprisingly pitched its tent firmly in the camp of ‘the little guy’. Miliband has aligned the party with “those who work for themselves”, adding that an economy skewed away from small companies is holding many back.
The party leader reportedly said: “Small businesses are still priced out of premises, with business rates often higher than rents. There’s still no access to finance from the banks, even for businesses with a good track record. You still can’t find the employees with the skills they need.”
Clamping down on energy bills was a key part of his plans; he stated: “It is unacceptable that [small businesses] do not have even basic protections that are available to households under the law from unfair energy contracts.”
In order to offer a helping hand to the UK’s SMEs, Labour looks likely to target larger businesses by reversing the Tories’ favourable corporation tax.
The potential threat to large corporations comes days after new data from Thomson Reuters revealed that the UK M&A market was at a four-year low despite the seemingly positive market conditions. Helping small businesses grow as part of long-term sustainable growth could prove an important factor in helping boost M&A activity in Britain.
In The Daily Telegraph, Anthony Gutman, co-head of UK investment banking at Goldman Sachs, said: “All of the ingredients are there for a strong M&A market – highly attractive debt conditions, a supportive equity market and a recovering economy. However, there is a longer lead time for corporates to become comfortable that the economic recovery is sustainable.” 
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