It’s all just too much hassle!

Over the last 9 months, for the first time, we have been approached by a number of owners of small businesses which are solvent, but which the owners want winding up because they simply do not want to carry on running them, as it is just too much hassle battling through the regulation and red tape.

So what’s gone wrong?
When the Government introduced the Enterprise Act in 2002 it changed the English insolvency laws in an attempt to modernise regulation and sweep away outmoded Victorian standards; the new law was heralded as a great new stimulation to the entrepreneurs of the country – setting out the prospect of a financial landscape in which the country’s new and small businesses could flourish to the good of the businesses and the country in general.

In theory this was a good idea, but one that has been let down in practice by a Government that is both controlling and lacking in any practical experience of what it means to be a small business owner.

The result of this is a sea of red tape that keeps growing and which stifles the very enterprises that the Government had set out to help. It is all very well for career politicians in Whitehall to sit in their taxpayer paid-for offices, gilding the lily – but the effect for small businesses is exasperating.

Only this week the Government has announced plans to extend to all parents of children under the age of 16 the right to request flexible working, along with Chancellor’s £2.7 billion handout to taxpayers to remedy the 10p fiasco – something that will largely be handled for him by the thousands of small businesses employing these staff.

The accumulative effect of 10 years of such things is a wearying of the soul of the small businessman, and instead of a flourishing culture of start-ups and wealth generation – the exact opposite is now being seen. If this experience is also being found in the rest of the country, then it is sending out a worrying signal for the country and the Government: one that those in Whitehall would be well advised to hear and heed.

If you need advice on the future of your business – whether it’s solvent or in financial difficulty – speak to the local experts, Marshman Price Business Rescue & Insolvency on 01933 270 918 or email rnmarshman@marshmanprice.co.uk.

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