A new YouGov poll has revealed that UK small businesses are not happy with the level of local business support they are receiving from government. Nationally 67% of the 646 SMEs polled on behalf of the Asset Based Finance Association stated they don't receive enough local support. The research included 29 SMEs in Newcastle - while not statistically conclusive, the Newcastle firms agreed even more firmly, with 76%* feeling they don't receive enough government support.
Before next week's emergency budget, the small firms polled in Newcastle are firmly in opposition to the planned hike in national insurance. When asked what one thing they would like to see from the new coalition government, 31%* of local SMEs wanted to see the rise in national insurance scrapped. This compares with the national figure of 39%.
The research also highlighted that many local SMEs are still experiencing financial difficulties, with nationally 85% seeing the UK as not out of the recession yet, despite official figures otherwise. The picture in Newcastle is even more pronounced, with a figure of 90%*.
There was also stark criticism of the old Labour government with 66%* of local firms believing that the Labour government had not done enough to help businesses during the credit crunch.
Access to finance for Newcastle SMEs is still a critical issue, with 69%* responding that their funding environment is either very hard or relatively hard, with no firms seeing access to finance as being very easy.
This latest YouGov research of firms using invoice finance comes just days before the coalition Government is due to announce the abolition of many Regional Development Agencies. The results come ahead of next week's emergency budget announcement in which more spending cuts are expected to be made.
Kate Sharp, chief executive of the Asset Based Finance Association, said: "For
firms in Newcastle it's clear that access to finance is still really important.
While our members are actively lending to Newcastle SMEs, it will be critical
that the emergency budget looks to help them more, by extending government initiatives
such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme. And with 76%* of firms feeling
that they haven't received enough local support, scrapping regional development
agencies might not prove popular with many small firms too. It would seem that
there is still some way to go before restoring business confidence in Newcastle."