Comment on 2013 Budget - Alex Hilton-Baird

SOUTHAMPTON, U.K. - March 20, 2013 - PRLog -- CEO of the Hilton-Baird Group, Alex Hilton-Baird, assesses the impact of the Budget on UK SMEs.

“Restoring confidence to the country was rightly central to the chancellor’s latest Budget amid the increasingly bleak economic picture. The range of tax cuts announced were done so with this in mind, including the increase in the personal allowance on Income Tax to £10,000 and the cancellation of September’s 3p rise in fuel duty.

“While the decision to cut Corporation Tax further in April 2015 should be applauded, we worry that this still won’t provide the impetus required for profitable businesses to invest their earnings for future economic growth. Instead, many are choosing to sit on them in fear of an even rainier day.

“We are delighted to see that 450,000 small businesses will pay no jobs tax as a result of the government taking the first £2,000 off the National Insurance contributions paid by every employer from April 2014, money that will help to ease the range of pressures on their cash flows.

“However, businesses need immediate and wider reaching support. That the chancellor stated the government is only “considering” an expansion to the Funding for Lending Scheme, which has had little impact on business lending so far, is a concern and means the issue of access to finance remains unaddressed. It will be interesting to see whether the Business Bank will resolve these challenges.”

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For further enquiries, please contact Helen Tramaseur or Jamie Weeden at Hilton-Baird Group on 02380 706637 or email helen.tramaseur@hiltonbaird.co.uk / jamie.weeden@hiltonbaird.co.uk

Note to editors:

Alex Hilton-Baird is CEO of the Hilton-Baird Group, which consists of Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions, Hilton-Baird Collection Services and Hilton-Baird Audit & Survey.

As an independent introducing agent, Hilton-Baird’s aim is to clearly identify their clients’ funding requirements and introduce them to the relevant funding solution. The company was voted Asset Based Finance Broker of the Year 2009 & 2010 at the Business Moneyfacts Awards and UK Asset Based Finance Broker of the Year 2012 at the ACQ Global Awards.

Established in 2001, Hilton-Baird Collection Services provides award-winning outsourced debt collection services to the UK’s SME and Corporate markets, as well as some of the most respected invoice financiers, leading banks and insolvency practitioners. The company was voted Commercial Debt Collection Agency of the Year for the second successive year in 2011 by Credit Today magazine. In addition, two of our employees have been awarded the Commercial Collector of the Year title, with Team Leader, Charlotte Christie, winning in 2010 and Senior Collections Advisor, Peter Hepburn, winning in 2012.

Such awards are testament to the continuous investment Hilton-Baird puts into making its services the best on the market, with regular training and technological innovation at the core of ensuring a fast, flexible and efficient response to businesses’ specific cash flow needs.

To find out more about how the Hilton-Baird Group can assist, contact Alex on 07958 745088 or email alex@hiltonbaird.co.uk. Alternatively, visit www.hiltonbaird.co.uk.