Budget 2011. Views from a soft toy wholesaler

Budget 2011. Views from a soft toy wholesaler

It says something about the economy that for the first time ever all of us at Best Years listened to all of the budget, something that I have to confess I have never done before. The market has been tough since Lehman's bank crashed back in 2008 and quite frankly by now we could do with a bit of light relief. We have seen many familiar faces exit the market over the last couple of years and there are noticeable gaps at trade shows where friends used to be

So given that we listened to the whole budget what do we, as a soft toy and fairtrade wholesaler, think of it? Our first thoughts were that anything which puts more money in to people's pockets is a good thing. The decrease in fuel duty and increase in personal allowance is definitely a positive step. More specifically the extension in small business rate relief is good news for independent retailers

However here are some statistics from the Federation of Small Business

There are 4.8 million small businesses in the UK (up from 4 million in 2003)

95 per cent employ less than 5 people

Small and medium-sized firms employ more than 59.8 per cent of the private sector workforce

22.8 million people work in small and medium-sized firms

Small firms contribute more than 49 per cent of the UK turnover

Wholesale, Retail and Repairs was the biggest employer at the start of 2009

The 563,000 enterprises in this sector employed 4,853,000 people (21.3 per cent of all UK private sector employment)

These statistics clearly show how important the small retailers are to the UK economy, but I heard nothing in the budget speech to recognise the value of all these thousands of small shops.

Its great that the government is investing in research and in high technology and green industries but how about funnelling some money to the less sexy, but still very important shop keepers? Its not a glamourous occupation, and its unlikely to expand in to a multinational organisation but these shops are fundamental to the economy. Independent retailers add the character to towns which the multiple retailers don't. They are more likely to source from small, craft based businesses as they do not have to go through a huge buying process before investing. This means selling product designed and/or made in the UK which again is good for jobs. They perform a genuine and essential service to communities. Its about time that their importance was recognised.

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