It’s truly fascinating when you review the graphic below that modern politics deals with issues like the COVID pandemic in a similar way to Wars and that for quite some time this country has been comfortable with running a borrowing account and then exerting the necessary spending controls on society. This process has effectively existed for some 300 years and appears to be the only way that our politicians seem to adopt when running an economy or what is a business the size of the UK.
Today we can expect the unexpected as free of the financial constraints of the EU we should be seriously developing reserves in such a way that we work to reduce Government debt and the corresponding interest cost of £108 Bn and build an economy that shows greater returns, working towards reducing the tax burden on every business and employee.
We can achieve this by re-establishing our manufacturing bases and exporting products made here to the world.
Below is a graph showing the value created by Business and delivered in taxes to Government annually. When you consider what Government spends each year is £1.15 Trillion, then this equates excluding import duties, to some £762 Bn or 66% annually of all Government spending. We clearly cannot and absolutely should not expect business to shoulder the burden in Taxes or any minimum wage increases (not reflected below), but the relevance of Business in creating Social Value is such that we should aspire to create “Better Businesses” and help them to quickly grow such that we have a much stronger business base, trading internationally and supported with both a vocational and academic skills pool.
If this is an economy that we all desire, then it is highly possible that immigration plays a far more relevant part of our future. The diagram below shows the landscape for existing businesses in the UK and clearly our Country is heavily indebted to our small businesses employing less than 50 people. As you will see below, there exists a framework of businesses that form the supply chains and research & development skills needed by an economy willing to grow and we simply need to encourage such growth with prudent government lead development. The first step along this road is ensuring that our business base has access to all the relevant tools provided and there exists a clear need to develop the “Soft Skills” of entrepreneurs as a starting point.
biz4Biz are leading the way in this respect and have purposefully developed the biz4Biz Premium Coaching service purely designed to help our UK based business owners and the key decision makers in industry to recognise a range of Skills required to help them develop their businesses by providing them each with the knowledge of the type of operational soft skills required to run a successful company. It would be ideal for Government to support this level of training as the knock-on effect for the UK is bigger, bolder businesses creating jobs, skills, taxation, and every bit of Social Value that the UK needs.
For more details of how biz4Biz can help you please see our information on Peer Networks Hertfordshire.
About the Author
Adrian Hawkins OBE was awarded his honour by the Queen in the 2021 New Years Day Honours list for his services to business. A lifetime businessman, Adrian Chairs biz4Biz a business support organisation which he founded 15 years ago to create a business network in the Home Counties which is now reaching further nationally. Adrian is also, Chairman of Hertfordshire Futures (previously the LEP) and the Hertfordshire Futures Skills and Employment Board. Adrian is also Chairman of the Stevenage Development Board alongside biz4Biz. Adrian has 45 years’ experience in the world of business.
