Govt to help small firms expand

Date: 15th November 2011

Small businesses around the UK are to be given a boost by the government in order to stimulate growth and job creation.

Speaking at the recent Exporting for Growth and Fitness Finance conference, prime minister David Cameron announced new measures aimed at helping small firms export to new markets, secure finance and cut red tape.

Among the measures are a £95 million investment from the Regional Growth Fund, the National Export Challenge and a Finance Fitness campaign.

Small business owners will also be shown how to exploit the potential of the internet with the government's Web Fuelled Business initiative.

Mr Cameron commented: "[Smaller enterprises] are already doing incredible things, but we urgently need more of them to follow that boldness. We need this to be a country where more people think 'I can start my own business and I can sell to the world'.

"Our determination is to come through these difficult times stronger, to trade our way to growth and jobs. We need to show real optimism about the future, and we need to show real aggression about pursuing Britain's interests in the world."

The comments come as official figures revealed that the UK economy expanded by only 0.5 per cent in the last quarter, with some experts warning another recession could be on the cards.

Posted by Emily Smith