RISHI Sunak and Kemi Badenoch yesterday launched a charm offensive on small firms, amid accusations the Government prioritises big business.
The Prime Minister and his Business Secretary unveiled plans to boost small businesses by making it cheaper to take on apprentices.
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Speaking in Coventry earlier yesterday, Mr Sunak admitted “It’s been a tough couple of years” after the pandemic and soaring inflation — but stressed the economy was “pointing in the right direction”.
Ms Badenoch added: “We’re reducing the drag on small and medium enterprises so you can go further, faster.”
The PM said apprentices should not be seen as “second-class citizens” for not going on to higher education and that “there are opportunities for every career within apprenticeships”.
The Government is now funding the full cost of apprenticeships for under-21s at small firms, which will cost an extra £60million.
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Last year, 752,150 participated in an apprenticeship in England.
Mr Sunak said it would “unlock a tidal wave of opportunity and make a real difference to businesses”.
Ministers will also raise the amount of funding that companies who are paying the apprenticeship levy can pass on to other businesses from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.
Large firms have long argued the levy’s “use it or lose it rule” needs to be overhauled as over £3.5billion of unused funds have been returned to the Treasury since its introduction in 2019.
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This cash will in future be used to fund the small firms scheme.
Julie White, boss of D-Drill, has 30 apprentices in addition to her 200-strong workforce.
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She said the new initiative was “fantastic” but apprenticeships were “still seen as a third choice after university or college” when there remained huge vacancies in Britain’s construction industry.
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£250m aid for female founders
RISHI Sunak yesterday declared that he wanted to make the UK “the best place in the world” for women to start a business.
The Government unveiled an “Invest in Women” taskforce at the Business Connect conference in Coventry.
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The PM said female founders get just 2 per cent of equity investment, unchanged in a decade.
British Business Bank boss Louis Taylor called it a “colossal waste of potential”.
A BBB report found that for every £1 of venture capital investment in the UK, all- female founder teams get less than 1p, all-males get 89p and mixed-genders 10p.
The taskforce will aim to raise £250million from private firms.
It was welcomed by Roni Savage founder of engineering firm Jomas Associates.
Michelle Ovens CBE, of Small Business Britain, said it can “supercharge a huge opportunity for the UK economy”.
£60BN to harness the wind
AN extra £60billion is needed to ensure Britain’s electricity grid can keep the lights on, a report says.
The Electricity System Operator, owned by National Grid, wants to create a new “electrical spine” across the nation, connecting 21 gigawatts of offshore wind to cope with soaring demand for electricity.
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That is enough to power an extra 14.7million homes.
It would span from Peterhead at Scotland’s easternmost point to Merseyside and supply homes and businesses north of the Border and across northern England.
The biggest expansion of the grid in seven decades could create 20,000 jobs, with nine in ten outside the South East.
Offshore wind is currently not harnessed effectively but the report says: “Great Britain is about to embark upon the biggest change to the electricity network since the high- voltage transmission grid was established back in the 1950s.”
Pain for Panadol
PANADOL painkillers maker Haleon has been given a fresh headache because its former parent Pfizer wants to dump £2billion of its shares.
It was spun off two years ago in a listing by joint venture partners Pfizer and GSK.
Pfizer wants to now cut its stake from 32 per cent to 24.
Haleon, which also makes Sensodyne toothpaste, is spending around £315million buying some of its shares back from Pfizer.
Curry’s hots up
CURRYS has boosted its profit outlook after US firm Elliott Advisors and China’s JD.com ended bid talks.
The electricals retailer said yesterday trading had been better than expected and its Nordic division was improving.
It now expects to make £115million of profits rather than its £105million prediction.
Boss Alex Baldock said: “We now feel confident to raise this year’s profit expectations to at least the top of our previous guidance.”
Shares rose by 6 per cent to 60p.
House about that
HOUSE prices rose by 1.5 per cent in March to an average of £368,118, according to Rightmove, as a calmer mortgage market attracted more buyers.
The property website said there had been a 13 per cent increase in sales since last year.
Fright on tiles
BUILDING materials group Marshalls has cut 300 jobs and its profit outlook, after warning it will take longer to recover from a slowdown in construction.
Shares fell by more than 8 per cent to 265p after the tiles and paving seller posted a 40 per cent slump in profits to £22.2million.
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The company expects business levels to be “subdued” and any recovery to be “slower and more modest”.
Marshalls has already mothballed two factories and made redundancies to save costs.
