Alistair Darling's 49 minute address in the House of Commons this lunchtime left me with the overwhelming response that this was an extraordinarily, unimaginative and uninspiring Budget - as far as encouraging the spirit of enterprise in the UK is concerned - that I had ever heard.
The general consensus by seasoned business analysts appears to be that business owners, whether start-ups, or those who have been in business for a number of years, have been left to basically fend for themselves …yet again.
Perhaps it was just too much to expect that Mr. D would be concealing, in that intriguingly, battered red attaché case, some exciting, or rather ground-breaking life-line to those of us in the business community, eagerly awaiting a financial helping hand in our hour/day/week/month/year of need… As it turned out, it was as if we barely existed, or perhaps he thought that we were getting along just fine - thank you very much.
I for one, was expecting the Chancellor to perform some innovative tinkering - hopefully southwards, with the current VAT rate on behalf of the small business man/woman; a huge opportunity here, has sadly been overlooked I fear.
The contribution of temporarily increasing a business' first year's capital allowances from 20% to 40% was welcomed, however the extent to which this would deal successfully with the major cashflow difficulties that many business are currently suffering from, wasn't immediately apparent.
There was however, a glimmer of hope that Mr. Darling wasn't completely oblivious to the needs of the small business community, in that he will be introducing a £250 million shot in the arm for various new job programmes and schemes, with the aim of training those under-25.
Also, the new Strategic Investment Fund containing £750 million worth of new investment will be set up to help fast-growing and innovative industries.
However, what was glaringly obvious was the lack of any evidence of Mr. Darling putting forward a clear, strategic path to recovery.
In conclusion, there's really no way to ‘sugar-coat' the impact of the crisis in the financial sector, or the fact that government profligacy is the reason public borrowing has soared to unprecedented levels, however the priority now is without doubt, to create a flow of new money, and to re-instil confidence among the business community and our potential clients & customers - sadly he was unable to pull this off and we in the small business community will have to look elsewhere for help and inspiration …
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Joanne Jarrett is MD of Totally Typing Ltd. Producers of accurate, quality transcripts...' An Audio Typing & Digital Transcription Service - We work with clients who typically come from media production companies, publishing houses, market research companies, legal professionals and solo business professionals. We produce transcribed documentation from focus groups, round table discussions, one-to-one, group interviews and seminars. Contact us on 0800 085 5427 or enquiries@totallytyping.com http://www.totallytyping.com/
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Joanne Jarrett is MD of an Online Audio & Digital Transcription Service. Providing fast, accurate documentation for clients throughout the world, who typically come from media production companies, publishing houses, journalists, authors, market research companies and legal professionals. We produce transcribed documentation from focus groups, one-to-one, group interviews and seminars. http:/www.totallytyping.com contact info@totallytyping.com or call 0800 085 5427
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