Companies need help 'retaining staff'

Date: 7th April 2009

Small companies need help retaining their current staff as well as recruiting new employees, it has been claimed.

Commenting on the back of a government scheme which will offer businesses £2,500 for hiring the long-term unemployed, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has urged policymakers to go one step further.

Included in its suggestions are changing the Working Tax Credit scheme to support shorter hours and freezing employment costs, which it claims would help small firms, from sole traders to limited companies, avoid redundancies.

Chief executive of the group, Phil Orford, said: "Recruitment is still taking place and for these employers this scheme is very welcome, but many small businesses are concentrating on trying to keep hold of their skilled employees."

He added that helping small firms to do this should form "a central pillar" of the government's business support strategy.

Figures published by the British Bankers' Association earlier this month revealed that lending to small businesses rose by £211 million in February.