Chancellor Rishi Sunak was found hosting SME round table with Exchequer Secretary on Monday where he hailed small businesses as the “heart of our economy” and highlighted all of the ways the government supports them.
At a humbling round table in Suffolk Food Hall, Rishi, on behalf of the government did his rounds to remind you of all the great things the government are doing for small businesses. Rishi Sunak and Helen Whately spent the day meeting with local small businesses including a bakery, gardening and gift shop, before launching the Google Digital Garage nationwide skills training tour at an event hosted at Ipswich Town Football Club.
The UK’s growing digital economy has created opportunities for record numbers of British businesses to thrive, and we’re committed to helping them make the most of that opportunity as they adapt to a hybrid world.
That’s why we’re launching the next phase of our in-person digital skills training and offering Google Career Certificates scholarships to help small businesses to develop the high impact tech skills needed to maximise their earning potential and level up.
– Ronan Harris, Managing Director, Google UK and Ireland
This launch consisted of a day of workshops and mentoring to support SMEs to learn new digital skills to grow their businesses and improve productivity. Levi Roots, the entrepreneur behind Reggae Reggae sauce, also attended to share advice with local businesses.
The government had also spent the day writing to thousands of small and medium sized businesses outlining government help available to them including cuts to employment taxes and business rates alongside support for them to thrive and grow.
The five ways the government supports SMBs:
- Cutting employment taxes for small businesses
- The UK government backed Help to Grow scheme
- Business rates reliefs
- Super-deduction and Annual Investment Allowance
- Fuel Duty (This one might have completely slipped your memory considering it’s a little hard to tell but it was 5p per litre for 12 months)
Small businesses are the heart of our economy – creating jobs and prosperity across the UK. It’s been inspiring to meet so many of them in Suffolk today.
I want them to know we will always stand behind them which is why we have written to thousands of businesses across the country to highlight government support on offer to support them in the uncertain months ahead.
– Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer
TL;DR: The government will always stand behind small businesses and Google want to give you a (not free) certificate.
3 Responses
To this government small businesses are like ants to be crushed underfoot.
I haven’t read something this funny for a while!
This Tory government is no friend to small businesses.
This is the same chancellor whose covid support packages deliberately excluded 3 million small businesses (startups without a year+ of filed accounts, directors paid by dividends as per HMRC advice, anyone earning over 50K p.a. and ahost of others) that were banned from operating during the pandemic.
Then when challenged on it said “I don’t recognise that figure”.
The same chancellor who didn’t think he had to reveal that one of his wife’s companies has gained around £60 million in government contracts, while two of her other companies went into liquidation owing £60 million ot creditors (including £623,000 in tax) with one of them having just taken £1.3 million of covid support.
I’d struggle to trust someone like that.