First, we need to ensure that we create the right macro-environment, by creating the conditions for stability which will give businesses and individuals the confidence to invest for the future. Second, we need to create a dynamic market environment in which real competition rewards innovation and encourages responsible risk-taking. This means creating the right framework of competition and minimum standards, but then leaving business free to do what it does best - creating jobs and generating wealth. An essential element of this strategy must be to avoid burdening business with unnecessary regulation. This is particularly important because burden of regulation falls most heavily on small business.
Small businesses are amongst the most dynamic, enterprising and ambitious firms in the country.
Taken together, small and medium sized businesses are the biggest creator of new jobs and increasingly, the major driver of economic growth. For many small businesses, their very size is a major advantage. It gives them the flexibility, creativity and incentives they need to succeed. They are well placed to respond to demands of knowledge driven economy and the growth of e-commerce. But size comes at a price, in particular they have less capacity to cope with new regulations and have less access to advice and guidance.