Employment benefits impacting on small businesses

The British Library’s Business and IP Centre have compiled a list of the top ten themes which are impacting on today’s small UK business and have found that employment benefits are one such issue. According to the Enterprising Voices report, many such firms believe that maternity leave subsidies should be increased in order to cover “hidden costs”. Meanwhile, it was also recommended that more incentives be introduced to encourage and support ethically minded entrepreneurs, while formal recognition of entrepreneurship should also be a legitimate option for those on job seekers’ allowance. Former BBC Dragon, entrepreneur and business mentor Rachel Elnaugh said: “Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises is vital to help rebuild confidence and those who manage small businesses on a day-to-day basis know more than most the challenges they face in developing their businesses.” Recent research by Abbey and Alliance & Leicester Business Banking has revealed that small business owners work an average of 47 hours a week.