Are SMEs going to save the UK economy?

Could small businesses be the saviours of the UK’s economy, well this is what Lord Digby Jones the former head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has claimed.

Lord Digby Jones commented at the opening of BT’s Small Business Week:

‘They are the only ones which create the wealth that can pay the taxes which can repay the public debt.’

Jones urges small businesses to ‘move up the supply chain by providing value-added, innovative goods and services’ that can be sold internationally. He notes that China and India’s rise in GDP during the recession is still enviably high (9 and 6 per cent respectively), whereas the UK’s economy continues to contract. ‘These people want your lunch,’ warns the ex-CBI chief.

‘The only way to get out of the economic mess we’re in is to trade our way out of it.’

The entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones made a similar point. ‘We need to think about how to make smaller businesses compete, not just on a national, but on a global scale.’

According to research conducted by BT Business, 75 per cent of 7,200 respondents believe the UK economy will see an upturn in 2010, with 35 per cent predicting the improvement will start as early as January.

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