Is regulation a barrier to your business?
GBCC
Regulation - I won’t pretend this is a topic that gets businesses excited, but regulation is nevertheless a fundamental and crucial aspect to running a business. Good regulation is essential for creating an environment for businesses that reduces risk, promotes confidence, supports employment and boosts trade.
Even so, there is a fine balance between regulation being helpful, and regulation being a burden. Achieving this balance is an on-going saga, as businesses deal with more and more regulation, while the government continues to make efforts to try and reduce the burden of it. Most recently the Government has launched the “Regulatory Delivery” directorate, aiming to simplify regulation by bringing together policy experts (i.e. know-how of how the regulations are written and suppose to be applied), with people with the experience of actually putting them into practice. The new directorate was only announced at the beginning of April, so it will be some time until we see what effect it has.
At a local level the issue of regulation remains a priority for the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBS LEP), since their overall mission is to create jobs and grow the economy, and they understand that barriers to business create barriers to productivity and growth. At the Chamber we understand the important impact regulation has on businesses both positively and negatively, hence we wish to understand current business regulation priorities and how we can help achieve these.
We are subsequently working with the GBS LEP to understand the needs of local businesses regarding regulation. We’re keen to know:
- Is regulation a barrier to your business?
- What areas of regulation apply to your business?
- What are your experiences of dealing with regulators?
- What are your principal concerns and issues regarding regulation?
These questions will help us determine what the overall business needs are around regulation and set priorities accordingly.
We would very much welcome your views, which you can share with us here.
As a side plug we are also currently conducting a review on procurement barriers faced by business with the GBS LEP. If you have views on procurement opportunities with local authorities and Tier 1 suppliers you can also share your views here.
As a thank you, participants will be entered into a prize draw to win a £25 gift voucher per survey (terms and conditions apply).