Small business vote is worth politely fighting for in this election, says EMMA JONES

Enterprise Nation boss Emma Jones says political parties need to prioritise small business

The dust may not have had that much time to settle on the party manifestos, but  small businesses have already worked out that they will be required to do much of the heavy lifting required to pay for them.

With economic growth and wealth creators put front and centre of the major party pleas, the UK's self-employed, start-up and small business community are ready to place their vote with the party they think is going to put fixing the economy right at the top of their list of priorities.

All the headline pledges are now out there in neon lights. But what we all want to know is do any of them have a whiff of prosperity?

Enterprise Nation delivered a debate to ensure small businesses got to hear the respective policies and plans of the major parties.

In front of an audience of 500 entrepreneurs, we hosted Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade Kevin Hollinrake MP, for the Conservative Party, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, for the Labour Party and Sarah Olney, Treasury and Business and Industrial Strategy spokesperson, for the Liberal Democrats.

They calmly set out their small business stall on key questions such as late payments, tax, the VAT threshold and planning law.

What are the parties offering small business? 

One message came through clearly. They all recognise that the small business vote is worth fighting for. And they are right to do so.

Entrepreneurship is a mighty and growing constituency and a classic swing voter to boot. Official figures put it at 5.5 million small businesses that employ 13 million people.

Add to that start-ups and side hustlers and those with entrepreneurial ambition and you have a very good reason for producing favourable pledges that will go down well with the nation's self-starters.

There's also another reason why small businesses should be at the top of every manifesto.

A thriving small business sector is a catalyst, not just for economic growth, but for a more prosperous, resilient, and inclusive society.

Small businesses innovate more, they create better quality jobs and deliver a bigger boost to their local economy in real terms, every day.

How will small businesses be taxed? 

What was the biggest debate of the night? Probably on the question of tax.

Hollinrake boasted that the UK has maintained one of the most generous business investment tax relief policies in the OECD and warned against raising capital gains tax (CGT), arguing it would harm the UK's international investment attractiveness.

When asked about business taxes like National Insurance, corporation tax and capital gains tax, Reynolds said Labour was clear that any additional revenue raised in their manifesto would be hypothecated for specific purposes, not just general funding.

Reynolds emphasised that where revenue needs to be raised, it will be done through targeted measures rather than broad-based tax increases on businesses or individuals. And he did rule out rises in CGT – which was welcomed in the room.

Olney proposed reintroducing the indexation allowance for CGT and replacing the business rates system with a commercial landlord levy, taxing the annual rental value of land instead of business revenues or profits based on property values.

From Labour and the Lib Dems there was a consensus to resolve the controversial VAT threshold. Sarah Olney proposed a review of the threshold level and its calculation mechanism to ensure it encourages continuous business growth rather than acting as a barrier.

Jonathan Reynolds ruled out raising the £95,000 threshold and rather than putting a figure on it, he advocated smoothing the 'cliff edge' rather than just raising it higher and higher.

Hollinrake's response was to point to tax reliefs – SEIS, EIS, Venture Capital Trust and business property relief as efficient Conservative mechanisms that support investment.

Prioritise small business for growth 

If the parties get this right, and the next government follows through on small business support with the enthusiasm demonstrated at the debate, they will pave the way for healthy and innovative local economies – and crucially they will be able to afford to pay for some of the other big things on their list.

The next government should be thinking about measures to support small business owners as pledges that support families, communities and society at large. When small businesses do well, our towns and cities and our high streets thrive.

To get to where we need to be in terms of growth there are some key things to get right first.

"A thoughtful, grown-up approach is more likely to win their hearts and minds than gimmicks. "

First and foremost, we need to create the right conditions and a nurturing culture where entrepreneurs are celebrated and supported all the way to turn their innovation into commercial success.

There is no doubt that technology is going to underpin the UK's long-term economic prosperity, if we're going to see growth, we must tackle the UK's underwhelming SME digital performance to be more in line with the rest of the G7.

We can do this by introducing some consistency and centralisation to business support, creating businesses that know where they are going and how they are going to get there.

This could also contain resources that could help to bake-in resilience. At the moment, entrepreneurs often have to take exhausting and costly steps, just to stand still. If they had access to a business support on-tap, they could fly.

While our debate may not have registered on the Richter scale like Prime Minsterial TV debates – it did demonstrate how important the small business vote will be and that a thoughtful, grown-up approach is more likely to win their hearts and minds than gimmicks.

Emma Jones is the founder of Enterprise Nation, a support platform that has helped 700,000 people to start and grow their small businesses.