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BAB-32 April 2005 Analysis
The topics covered in the 32nd UK Business Advisers Barometer Survey were: the UK road infrastructure; training needs analyses; 'elearning'; the best route to greater growth; local business crime prevention initiatives; follow up questions on media coverage for smaller businesses; managing waste paper; breaking for lunch; developing new products/services; marketing expenditure; RDA management of the Business Links service; and tax returns as they relate to accounting dates.
135 Business Advisers responded to this Survey.
Survey Findings
Figures published by DEFRA show that motor vehicle traffic increased by 19% between 1990 and 1993. Traffic density and congestion also increased, because total road length increased by only around ½ % p.a. (motorway length is only about 85% of total road length). The actual average condition of roads has been found to have improved between 2000 and 2004, as measured by the DfT Roads Defects Index.
At the same time, road traffic intensity, which measures the ratio of vehicle-miles to Gross Domestic Product, actually fell by 12% over the same period.
The UKBAB survey for April asked panellists how the nature and condition of the UK road infrastructure is impacting upon their businesses. The same question was also asked of panellists to the parallel UK Business Barometer survey (UKBB). There was clear correspondence between the two sets of responses - few of either set of panellists see it as getting better: less than 6% from the UKBAB and less than 5% of the UKBB. Although 27% of UKBAB respondents and 32% of UKBB respondents don't see it as getting either better or worse, nearly 64% of UKBAB respondents and 59% of UKBB respondents see it as getting either worse or very much worse.
The government and local authorities have been introducing information and incentives to encourage local business crime prevention initiatives over the last four years. The April survey asked to what extent panellists of both the UKBAB and the UKBB thought that local initiatives are effective in reducing crime against business. Only 10% of BAB respondents answered with 'highly' or relatively highly (category 2), while 51% of UKBAB answered with 'not at all' or not much (category 4) and 19% said 'don't know'. Similarly, 10% of BB respondents answered with 'highly' or relatively highly (category 2), while 37% answered with 'not at all' or not much (category 4), while 37% didn't know.
In March, UKBAB panellists were asked whether they felt that the issues confronted by smaller businesses are given adequate coverage in the media, and over 70% responded that they did not think so.
In the April survey we looked to see what type of media was particularly inadequate in the eyes of advisers and smaller businesses responding to the UKBAB and the UKBB. We also asked how often both groups offered their news and views to local media. The broadsheet papers and TV were those that respondents to both surveys would most like to improve their small business coverage, and these were followed by radio in the case of the UKBAB and local newspapers in the case of the UKBB. In terms of helping coverage by contacting media, 45% of UKBAB respondents said they frequently or sometimes did so; the corresponding figure for the UKBB was 38%.
Paper sustainability is one of the areas that has been under the spotlight post-Kyoto. A recent survey by the printer company Lexmark found that £230million worth of printed paper is wasted in British businesses every year, and also found that the fewer the number of employees in a company, the more paper each employee had on their desks. We asked the same question in both the UKBAB and the UKBB April surveys, and found that a lower percentage of respondents to the UKBAB rated themselves as more efficient compared to respondents to the UKBB, but well over 65% of both sets of respondents' answers were in the top three categories.
Many advisers on productivity say that there are productivity losses in the afternoon if workers do not take a break at lunchtime. The estimated average lunchbreak in the UK has now fallen to 27 minutes, but many of our respondents never take any lunchbreak. 11% of UKBAB respondents and 13% of UKBB respondents fall into this category. At the other end of the scale, 7% of UKBAB and 15% of UKBB respondents always take a break at lunchtime.
There was a marked difference in between our two surveys in the response to a question on the development of new products and services. Only 32% of Business Advisers responding to the UKBAB think that their clients actively seek opportunities for the development of new products/services to a high or reasonably high extent. However, 77% of respondents to the UKBB say that they do actively seek opportunities for the development of new products/services to a high or reasonably high extent.
Openness to customers' requirements was agreed to be the main motive for developing new products/services by similar proportions of UKBAB and UKBB respondents, 35% and 37% respectively. But whereas 'Response to observed opportunities' was the reply by 55% of UKBB respondents, only 41% of UKBAB respondents believed this. 23% of UKBAB respondents believe their clients mainly react to competitor activity but not many UKBB respondents - only 6%, think this is the case. (UKBAB panellists were not asked to rate 'response to business advice' as a main motive).
The April survey questions on small business marketing spend revealed that 63% of respondents feel that over half of their clients spend too little on marketing and 17% think between 31% and 50% of their clients should be spending more. The balance between these two sets of responses indicates that advisers generally see weaknesses in many clients marketing budgets. By contrast, 33% of respondents have no clients who overspend on marketing, but 44% of respondents feel that between 1% and 10% of their clients spend too much on marketing. One comment received was that the important question is whether the marketing budget is spent wisely and effectively.
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One quarter of respondents believe that recent management changes to Business Links, and the change in emphasis to become more of a 'broker' of services, have resulted in lessening the take up of the business advice provided by our respondents, although two thirds have not seen any differences to their work opportunities at this stage, and 7% have seen increases.
There has been some discussion, amongst the debate preceding the General Election, about allowing the self-employed to file their tax returns by a date dependent on their own individual accounting dates, and one comment from a respondent was that the January 31st deadline is unnecessary. Another respondent commented that doing this would help the Inland Revenue by spreading their workload. 48% of respondents would favour this, but 24% would not and 28% don't know.
Listed below are extracts from feedback into the April 2005 Survey BAB-32
Views expressed are those of individual panellists and may not represent those
of the University.
Q.11 Has the recent change to RDA management of the Business Links service provided you with:
Q.12 (Would you favour a move which would allow the self-employed to file their tax returns within a year of their accounting date?) What is suggested would spread the load for the IR Inspectors and Collection, and would make more sense than the present set-up where overlap taxation applies to businesses whose financial year doesn't coincide with the fiscal year.
Having said that, there's no excuse for not being able to work to the current deadlines.
I was amused to note that, while the government are with one hand busily encouraging 'entrepreneurship', when there was recent discussion about rises in tax, the Chancellor responded that 'if you ignored the self employed, taxes had not gone up'! Hardly a sentiment to encourage more people to take the self-employed route and rather indicative of the contempt in which small businesses are really held.
In this survey, you ask questions about whether clients spend too much or little on marketing. In my experience, one of the questions we should be asking is 'Do our clients - and perhaps some business advisers - really understand how best to market their business? Too many clients associate marketing simply with advertising and promotion and do not look at the importance of the wider aspects of marketing, including research, branding, image and so on. The important question is not 'How much do they spend' but do they spend it wisely on effective marketing'?
When I think of the millions of pounds which this government wastes on asylum seekers - and seeks to hide much of this - and compare it with the petty manner it seeks to raise stealth taxes in many ways to pay for this, my blood boils as I see the way many small firms struggle to pay these costs and have to spend time on red tape. I suppose it keeps the civil servants in business. I would not recommend young people to go into manufacturing industry even though without it this country will suffer badly!
Very interesting selection of questions this month, I think these have greater relevance than some in the past, but keep up the good work. A small point though; one or two (like the last question) really have to be taken in context, or allow an 'other' response; e.g. sole trader v incorporation is a big issue of which tax return dates is a relative aspect. Another I'd like to comment on concerns RDA's v B. Links: be useful to see the geographical breakdown of responses on THAT one...
Change in VAT status of BLOs which arises from the fact that "they now just broker services" has actually resulted in a reduction in the amount of services brokered, the BLO that I know have reduced their external spend to maintain their internal levels of personnel... not quite what was intended!
31 January deadline is unnecessary and a deadline spread around the year would be greatly welcomed!
Your question regarding the RDA's management of the Business Link was interesting as I think both senior management at the RDA and at the BL local level haven't a clue about what really happens for the dear customer.
All I see is more ticks in boxes for Gov and less practical support for business owners with a massive rise in wasted money from duplication and sometimes triplication of effort going out to a totally confused market place caused by the lack of integration between all the departments at regional, National, EU and in some cases International gov.
I'm certain that if nothing existed we wouldn't notice a difference in business performance, development, start up, training or export...but we'd all save a shed load of cash!!
The question about media coverage of business is interesting. The "Business" sections of so many newspapers and magazines should be titled more accurately as "Stock Market". And thus have almost no relevance to small businesses.
My experience of clients developing new products suggests that, in the main, they only do this when they absolutely have to.
