What did we see when we peered out of the Startups offices roughly an hour ago? None other than Boris Johnson, Conservative candidate for the London Mayoral elections, pitching from his soapbox to a scrum of passersby.
Not ones to miss such an opportunity, notebook in hand, we elbowed our way to the front to find out what Boris had to say about enterprise and how he’d help small businesses should he be elected on 1 May.
He was pleasantly forthcoming:
“Small businesses are absolutely vital. Crucial,” insisted an impassioned Boris. “I’m very interested in helping them as much as I can.”
So what would he do first? We'd barely finished the question before he burst in:
“First thing I’d do is abolish this ridiculous £25 fine they have to pay for driving into the centre of London. It’s absurd and an unfair tax on small business. I’ll scrap it,” he asserted.
On the broader issue of supporting small businesses, Boris felt the public needed to share the responsibility with its buying decisions.
“We all talk about how much we love small businesses, but how much do we use them?” he questioned. “I mean, we say we want to buy from them but then we go and shop in the likes of Tesco and [realising he’s holding a coffee from there] Starbucks, don’t we?”
But surely it’s not all our responsibility? Realising we're far from satisfied, Boris offers more:
“I’d ensure there are more small businesses on the high street for people to choose from by using section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act to force more developers to retain affordable leases for small retail businesses,” he added, with somewhat surprising detail.
There was no stopping him now.
“I've already agreed to meet the Federation of Small Business every month to find out the real issues affecting people running their businesses… Also, I’d look to massively extend apprenticeships so we’re training people and small businesses are able to afford skilled workers. We need to be doing more to encourage people to be enterprising."
Wow, not bad at all Boris, we have to say we’re impressed. Ken, if you’re reading, get in touch and we’ll be more than happy to air your views. Alternatively, just hang around the office and we'll keep an eye out for you!
