Chamber welcomes support for small businesses

Greater Manchester Chamber has welcomed Government and Opposition support for small businesses.

Chris Fletcher, Deputy Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Chamber, said: “It’s pleasing to see that the major political parties are recognising the importance of protecting small business against the worsening economic conditions.

“While we recognise the importance of stabilising international markets over the last few weeks, it has also been frustrating as we have been trying to make people aware of the increasing difficulties businesses are having in the ‘real’ economy.

“We broadly welcome the proposals being discussed and have already started to focus in on some of the key issues.

“We are currently contacting the local councils across Greater Manchester to raise the issue of quicker payments with them. We will also be repeating our call for the scrapping of empty property rate relief.

“Finally, there needs to be a freeze on any new legislation that impacts on business, as employers’ attention has to be given 100% to keeping their business going. Worsening credit ratings and loss of credit cover needs addressing, as well as looking at holiday periods for National Insurance or VAT payments until the economy picks up again.”