Hale Independent Issue 169

17 AUGUST 2024 Visit our website: www.independentnewspapers.co.uk Independent BUSINESS THE new government has declared its Employment Rights Bill, unveiled in the King’s Speech, as “the big- gest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”. It is one of more than 35 bills and draft bills the Labour administration is looking to bring forward to enable economic growth. The government says its package of bills will focus on growing the economy through speeding up the building of houses and infrastructure, improving transport, creat- ing more jobs and securing clean, green energy – “help- ing to make every part of the country better off.” The Employment Rights Bill is designed “to make work pay”. It will see a ban on what it describes as “exploitative” zero-hours contracts, end fire and rehire, and introduce basic employment rights from day one. The bill will make parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal a day one right for all workers - sub- ject to probationary periods. It will also make flexible working the default from day one for all workers and update trade union legisla- tion, removing restrictions on trade union activity and simplifying the statutory recognition process. The government has also announced changes to the Low Pay Commission to “make sure the minimum wage is a genu- ine living wage”. Its plans include reforming the apprenticeship levy and setting out work on legislation to enshrine the full right to equal pay in law. And legislation on race equality will be published in draft “to enshrine the full right to equal pay in law”. Labour is also taking action when it comes to planning. A new bill will streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure, and overhaul rules on the compulsory pur- chase of land. A Renters’ Rights Bill, will ban so-called “no fault evic- tions” and extend a series of building safety rules for social tenants to private renters. The speech attracted crit- icism in some quarters. Pol- icy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Tina McKenzie, said it fell short on “the central chal- lenge” of getting growth back into the economy and ensur- ing wealth creation in every local community. She said: “Small businesses and the self-employed expected more on these, with their key issues instead overlooked. The government’s 105-page brief- ing document doesn’t mention ‘small business’ once. “Apar t f rom ambi- tious-sounding planning reform, there was no sign of delivery of the small business plan promised by Labour in opposition. “The lack of promised legis- lation to tackle late payments and poor payment practices by bigger businesses to their small business suppliers is the most serious omission.” And she added: “Small businesses are increasingly worried about the developing THE British Business Bank has off icially launched the Growth Guarantee Scheme which it says will help smaller businesses access the finance they need to invest and grow. The successor to the Recov- ery Loan Scheme is expected to support around 11,000 smaller businesses between July 2024 and March 2026. The launch has been wel- comed by business leaders and comes at a time when the bor- rowing environment for SMEs has been held back by high interest rates and a reluc- tance among lenders to extend finance to smaller firms. The previous recovery scheme also made a real dif- ference to businesses on their journeys out of the worst of the pandemic. The bank says it has accredited 41 lenders for the new scheme so far, with 20 confirmed they are now open for applications. Further lenders are going through the accreditation process and will be accredited over the coming weeks. These lenders will provide a wide range of finance types to smaller businesses, including term loans, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending. The terms of the scheme are intended to remain broadly unchanged from its prede- cessor, the Recovery Loan Scheme, enabling continuity and consistency for lenders and the business community. Reinald de Monchy, manag- ing director, Guarantee and Wholesale Solutions at the British Business Bank, said: “We’re excited to launch the Growth Guarantee Scheme, which will allow lenders to offer more finance to their customers. “This will help to gener- ate more sustainable growth across the UK and provide a springboard to many smaller businesses to scale up or stay ahead.” The launch of the scheme has been widely welcomed as a way of getting much-needed finance to start-ups and scale- ups, so they can grow. INDEPENDENT account- ing and business advisory firm Hurst has promoted two members of its team who joined the Stockport based practice as gradu- ate trainees. Tom Hooper and Jack Pritchard have become asso- ciate managers in its business services team, which provides advisory, audit and assurance services to companies across the North West and beyond. After graduating from the University of Nottingham with a degree in history and American studies, Tom joined Hurst in September 2018. He works with clients across numerous sectors, including manufacturing, construction, hotel management, training and digital marketing. His role includes complet- ing consolidated accounts and reporting on audit findings to the boards of companies, as well as leading on-site teams. Tom is also a member of Hurst’s audit, innovation and methodology team, which is exploring how the firm can best leverage AI and other modern tools. Jack graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in accountancy and finance, and joined Hurst in September 2019. He is involved in audits, statutory accounts prepara- tion work and corporation tax compliance on behalf of clients in sectors including insur- ance, construction and sport. Mike Jackson, head of Hurst’s business services team, said: “Bringing hugely talented people through the firm is one of the best things about what we do, and to see Jack and Tom step up to the partner and manager team is a great moment.” The firm recently moved its head office to a new flagship development at 3 Stockport Exchange, the latest phase of a £145million project by Muse Developments and Stockport Council. Adding up promotions Stepping up: Jack Pritchard, left, with Tom Hooper Employment rights at the heart of speech employment rights package. More than nine out of ten small employers say they are concerned about the prospect of increased costs and risks when they employ people, and there were no commitments within this to look after small employers who will struggle the most.” However, Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, was more positive. He said: “The ambition on housing deliv- ery and policy proposals put forward to deliver them are positive and welcome. “Planning has been the biggest constraint on house building in recent years and the measures proposed will address the main areas of concern by bringing more land forward for development more quickly.” He added: “Building the homes the country needs will address the social issues our housing crisis is creating, pro- vide young people with access to decent housing, whilst cre- ating tens of thousands of jobs and boosting investment in communities in every area of the country.” Going for growth Pensions review looks to deliver CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves has announced a “landmark” pensions review to boost invest- ment, increase pots and tackle waste in the system. Under the plans pension pots for savers in defined contribution schemes could be boosted by more than £11,000. And billions of pounds of investment could be unlocked in the UK economy from defined contribution schemes alone. The review will also look at how to unlock the investment potential of the £360billion Local Government Pensions Scheme, as well as how to tackle the £2bnthat is being spent on fees. Work has begun on the first phase of the review of the pensions landscape. The next stage, starting later this year, will consider fur- ther steps to improve pen- sion outcomes and increase investment in UK markets, including” assessing retire- ment adequacy”. The chancellor said: “The review we are announcing is the latest in a big bang of reforms to unlock growth, boost investment and deliver savings for pensioners. “There is no time to waste. That is why I am determined to fix the foundations of our economy so we can rebuild Britain and improve peo- ple’s lives.” Pensions minister Emma Reynolds added: “Over the next few months the review will focus on identifying any further actions to drive invest- ment that could be taken for- ward in the Pension Schemes Bill before then exploring long-term challenges to ensure our pensions system is fit for the future. “There is so much untapped potential in our pensions mar- kets, with an industry worth around £2trn. “The measures we have already set out in our Pen- sion Schemes Bill will help drive higher investment and a better deal for our future pensioners.” The review has been widely welcomed by the industry. Legal & General Group Chief Executive António Simões said: “As the UK’s largest manager of money for pension clients, we wel- come the ambition set out by the government. “Driving pensions capital into areas such as science, technology and infrastruc- ture can help support better returns for millions of retire- ment savers, as well as stim- ulate much needed long-term growth for the economy. “Having recently launched our own fund offering Defined Contribution savers access to high growth private market sectors, we look forward to continuing to work closely with government on the next stages of reform to help unlock further funding routes to power UK businesses, com- munities and society. “We also strongly welcome the government’s intention to consider the adequacy of overall pension provision in the next stage of the review.” Aviva’s director of work- place savings and retirement Emma Douglas added: “We fully support government’s ambition to get pension funds invested in a way that both supports UK growth and improves outcomes for savers. “We see this as an impor- tant next step and look forward to working with government and industry on the review.”