Heavier Red Tape Burden Costs £10.2 Billion

The annual cost to British business of implementing new legislation is £10.2 billion and the situation over the last year has got worse, according to research from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW).

The ICAEW’s Enterprise Survey now in its 11th year revealed that 36% of businesses believe that the imbalance between the needs of regulation and the growth of enterprise has deteriorated in the last year.

Hardest hit are the smallest businesses.  Changes in maternity payments and minimum wage rates amongst other changes in the last 12 months have contributed to the 76% of the total cost of implementation that now falls on these smaller companies. Nearly half (46%) of small businesses think that the imbalance between the needs of regulation and encouragement of enterprise has deteriorated. This compares to only 29% of larger businesses.

Despite this gloomy picture, and let’s face it all businesses will always moan about regulation, one in five companies have a target to achieve 30% growth over the next couple of years.  Indeed 40% of all businesses predict 10% growth in turnover over the next 12 months.

| business growth | ICAEW | red tape | regulation |