Entrepreneur Week, What Does It Mean For SME’s and Company Formation?

The whole of the UK has gone reality TV crazy. What with X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and now I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here, you can no longer switch on a television without being confronted by some egotistical person judging another.

Over the weekend The Times argued that the SME sector is the reality contestant of Britain; small businesses anxiously wait for banks to deliver a “yes” or “no” verdict on their finance applications, as the government sits back and fails in its role as “mentor”.
Okay, so it is a fairly convoluted metaphor. However, as Entrepreneur Week approaches many small business owners and people considering company formation, are asking the question; “What does the government actually do, to help small business?”

While we expected the number of people considering starting their own company to decrease during the recession, company formation figures have actually increased. However, despite this increase, the number of these companies that go into administration in the first year remains consistent at 80%.

As one of the main providers of employment and stimulus to the UK’s struggling economy, you would think that the above number would trouble the Government somewhat. Yet, according to you, the only real contact you receive from the government is letters asking for tax.

This extremely worrying when you consider that the SME sector accounts for almost 60% of all businesses in the UK.