Labour’s Small Business Initiatives
Now that the dust has settled and we have the results of the 2024 general election, many of us may be thinking about how a Labour government will affect small businesses and business owners. Can we expect to see an improvement moving forward? Find the new policies and plans from Labour below:
Late payments
Labour is stamping down on late payments for small businesses for work they’ve done for big clients. This will require larger businesses to be more transparent about reporting their payment practices in order to expose those who are late payers.
Energy bills
Labour also pledges to cut energy bills for small businesses across the UK by establishing Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company.
Change to business rates
Labour had previously criticised the current business rates system with a high tax threshold on business owners who choose to have a space on the high street.
Rachel Reeves, back in June when she was shadow Chancellor, told the BBC that Labour will help with business rates which ‘reduces the costs for small businesses and high streets, ensuring that some of the big multinationals and tech companies pay their fair share’.
This new system of business property taxation will help level the playing field between high streets and online giants.
Small business exporting
Labour wants to publish a trade strategy to help small businesses set up exporting more easily and give them clear advice on how to get this up and running. The aim of this is to encourage trading in foreign markets and remove the barriers that often stop this from happening for new businesses.
Access to public contracts
Labour wants to open up the competition to make it easier for small businesses to access lucrative government contracts. According to the new proposal, it would make it compulsory for at least one small business to be shortlisted whenever a relevant public contract goes to tender.
Overall, we can expect to see policies coming into effect over the next few months or so. Time will tell how supportive and beneficial these initiatives might be or if there is still area for growth and improvement for small businesses across the UK