Pictured: Christine Braddock
Government support for enterprise is vital to the economic
success of the West Midlands, say business leaders even though
unemployment figures, announced today, fell by one per cent to
224,000 from March until June.
Christine Braddock, president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
Group, said: "Replacing business rates, lowering levels of planning
and cutting legislation is the only way to encourage businesses to
invest and take on more staff."
Micro businesses employ 20.2 per cent of all private sector
employees in the UK and 21.1 per cent of the turnover generated by
the private sector comes from sole traders or firms with less than
ten staff members.
In the latest quarterly economic survey conducted by Birmingham
Chamber of Commerce Group, 35 per cent of businesses say they are
experiencing recruitment difficulties. A total of 58 per cent of
manufacturers expected their workforce to stay the same and the
figure was 68 per cent in the service sector.
Mike Ashton, spokesman for West Midlands Chambers of Commerce,
said: "Although the drop in figures is probably due to people
going back to university and leaving the employment market, we
should not rest on our laurels.
"The West Midlands has been one of the hardest hit regions and
it is vital that government gives business the tools it needs to
create jobs."