Dealing with government regulation and legislation is costing small businesses a month in downtime every year.
That’s according to research released by BT, which claims UK small businesses waste 24 working days a year on non-core activity.
Enforcing, implementing and putting in place measures to adhere to new government law accounted for the majority of the time, with finance, IT and HR departments particularly affected.
The strain of coping with red tape is now the main business concern for over half of all businesses, the report claims. Only 27% of those interviewed pointed to cashflow or finances, the traditional bugbear of owner-managers, suggesting a rising number see red tape as the major barrier to growth.
The findings are the latest blow for the government after last week’s much-hyped u-turn on Capital Gains Tax was met with resounding disapproval from the business community.
Its Employment Simplification Bill, aimed at reducing the burden of red tape on small businesses, was also met with criticism when released to Parliament last month.
Phil McCabe, a spokesman for the Forum of Private Businesses, attacked chancellor Alistair Darling for failing to listen to small businesses’ concerns of the rise of red tape.
“A wide-ranging review of the burdens of employment law took place last year,” said McCabe “The FPB submitted some detailed data on health and safety, parental leave and sick pay concerns, none of which seems to have made it into this Bill.
“Dispute resolution and the minimum wage penalties each come from other reviews, which leaves us wondering where Darling’s review actually got us.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
