North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson showed his support for small businesses by taking part in Small Business Saturday.
Smalll Business Saturday aims to encourage people to support our small local businesses in their area, and celebrate the incredible work they do – from stepping up to support local communities throughout the pandemic, creating local jobs, giving life to our high streets, and helping us make a full economic recovery from the pandemic.
Justin Tomlinson said: "Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the heart of local communities across the country. After a tough couple of years due to COVID, it is more important than ever that we support small businesses and ensure they continue to flourish."
The Government sis helping businesses build back better from the pandemic by:
• Supporting businesses with tax cuts, reforms and incentives to invest, helping to drive our economic recovery. We are cutting business rates by at least 50 per cent next year for 90 per cent of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, and freezing all rates. Combined with Small Business Rates Relief, this is a business tax cut worth £7 billion for over 700,000 eligible businesses – the biggest business rates cut in 30 years.
• Launching two new Help to Grow schemes, to boost the productivity of small businesses: o Our Help to Grow Management Scheme will help SMEs get world-class management training through government-funded programmes delivered through business schools, with businesses contributing only £750, just 10 per cent of the overall cost of the course. o Our Help to Grow Digital Scheme will level up the digital skills of our small businesses with a voucher entitling them to 50 per cent off the purchase of new productivity-enhancing software, up to a total of £5,000 each.
• Launching our Plan for Jobs, helping businesses get the high skilled employees they need. Our Plan for Jobs includes our £2 billion Kickstart Scheme which is creating paid placements for over 100,000 young people; our Job Entry Targeted Support scheme which provides six months of personalised support for people who have been unable to find work; and our new £2.9 billion Restart scheme will provide 12 months of tailored support for those out of work.
Our record on supporting businesses:
• Delivering £407 billion of support throughout the pandemic, protecting jobs and livelihoods. We have provided £407 billion of support for families, jobs, and businesses, more than almost any other country in the world – supporting more than 14.5 million jobs and providing over £100 billion in business grants and loans.
• Protecting almost 12 million workers with almost £70 billion of government support, through our Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Throughput the pandemic, we took historic steps to pay people’s wages when it was not safe to go to work – this support reached almost 12 million workers and allowed business owners to retain and support their staff.
• Helping to create 1.1 million more businesses since 2010, boosting our economy. In 2010 there were 4.5 million businesses in the private sector across the UK, in 2021 this has increased to 5.6 million business – an increase of 24 per cent
• Injecting over £800 million of funding to help modernise over 50 high streets and town centres, helping local, small business thrive. The Prime Minister has expanded the Future High Streets Fund, confirming that another 57 towns in England will be given a share of £1 billion to redevelop their high streets, improve transport and access into town centres and convert empty retail units into new homes and places of work, taking the total receiving support to 100 places.
• Awarding over £600 million in Start Up Loans to support entrepreneurs and small businesses create jobs and boost economic growth. Start Up Loans provide funding to entrepreneurs who may otherwise struggle to access it. Since the scheme’s creation in 2012, 75,000 loans have been awarded, providing more than £623 million. We have committed to extending the Start-Up Loan programme to the end of 2021-22, supporting up to 10,000 more entrepreneurs across the UK.
