Examination of Witnesses

Part of Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:45 pm on 19 June 2012.

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Mike Emmott: Not at all, although I have to say that many of our members are medium and large organisations, rather than tiny ones. There is a perception problem. I prefer the BIS evidence, and the BIS survey evidence, and I see no reason to doubt it. On the other hand, people are always putting themselves in other people’s shoes and saying, “Yes, I can see that that would be a problem, wouldn’t it?” It is partly a matter of confidence. When I talk to people who run small businesses, I am always impressed by how they are—I hesitate to say this—normal, humane, intelligent and competent guys. The fact that their business is small does not mean that they are lacking in any way—no more than the people who run big businesses are lacking. There is a perception problem, but we tell each other stories and we believe them, because they are plausible.

I do not get the impression that employment regulation is a major burden on small firms. The surveys that I see, other than the BIS one, talk about taxation, demand, loans and so on, and those are the issues that businesses really care about.