Federation of Small Businesses - FSB Weekly Brief 36

In this week’s issue: EU gold-plating; small businesses under attack; age legislation; EU overtime decision; career prospects; small business stats; morning coffee; stress.

1. FSB fights gold-plating of EU rules
The FSB this week released a joint report with the Foreign Policy Centre on the tendency of the UK Government to make EU legislation even more burdensome than it was intended. Andrew Cave, FSB Senior European Policy Adviser, put together with the FPC a round table discussion on the research. Tina Sommer, the FSB’s EU and International Affairs Chairman, told the Financial Times (FT): “Our research has found that two-thirds of small firms want to grow in the next five years but half of all small businesses see excessive regulation as a serious barrier to that growth.” The FT devoted half of Thursday’s page three to the issue. As issue’s go, this is a big one and is unlikely to go away any time soon. The full report can be found at www.fsb.org.uk.

2. Small businesses under attack from fraudsters
The FSB’s warning to small businesses about the threat from fraudsters received coverage in The Sun this week. The warning came after reports of people phoning small businesses pretending to be Companies House officials in a bid to get hold of private information that could be used to commit fraud. Stephen Alambritis, FSB Head of Press and Parliamentary Affairs, told the red top rag: “Trying to recoup money and sensitive information once it has been stolen is far harder than protecting it in the first place.”

3. Chaos and confusion over new age discrimination rules
From the beginning of next month any form of age discrimination in the workplace will be illegal under a new law. All very well, one might think. But no, the rules are so woolly and badly written that many small businesses have very little idea of what they mean in practice. Simon Briault, FSB spokesman, told the Daily Mail this week that many small firms “will find themselves falling foul of the law because they either didn’t understand it or didn’t follow the legislation to the letter.”

4. EU court decision set to destroy flexibility in the workplace
The FSB reacted with dismay this week to an EU court decision that brands the UK’s application of the Working Time Directive illegal. Despite the fact that UK businesses are already obliged to ensure that employees can take adequate breaks and have time off between working periods, the European Commission sued the UK Government for not putting in place guidelines that would force employers to ensure staff take breaks. This means that even if an employee wants to do overtime for some extra cash, their employer could be breaking the law by letting them. In short, it’s a pointless and unhelpful decision for all concerned and the FSB spokespeople that were interviewed in The Gurardian, the Daily Telegraph and on BBC2’s Working Lunch this week wasted no time in pointing this out.

5. Academic grades are not the be-all and end-all
The FSB on the GCSE results: there are other things in life and, more precisely, other qualities that employers are looking for in new recruits. Matthew Knowles, FSB spokesman, made this point in The Times Educational Supplement this week.

6. Small business owners happy to go it alone
More reaction from the FSB this week on new figures which show that there are more small business owners going it alone. “Some business owners just don’t want the hassle of employees and prefer to enjoy their business and get on with running it,” an FSB spokesperson told the Mail on Sunday.

7. The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
If you haven’t already heard about it from the front page of the FSB website, Macmillan Cancer Support is again organising a fundraising coffee morning on September 29. But this is not just any bog standard, run-of-the-mill coffee morning; this is the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, which raised six and a half million big ones last year to support victims of cancer. Businesses up and down the country are invited to take part. It’s devilishly simple. All you have to do is visit the following address on the worldwide interweb to find out more: www.macmillan.org.uk/Microsites/WBCM/Home.aspx.

8. BBC programme on busy, stressed out people
BBC2 is looking for participants for a programme which will encourage healthy living. We would like to talk to people who lead pressurised, busy lives, and perhaps find it difficult to relax. Filming is planned for November. For an informal chat without obligation please contact Emma Smith on 0121 567 6511 or emma.smith2@bbc.co.uk.