I was just on the Eddie Nestor show on BBC Radio London discussing todays budget. One of the points I made was that small UK businesses never get a break. The big multinational companies such as Amazon and Google etc pay little if any tax on the business they do in the UK. Companies like mine are taxed to the hilt. Small business is simply not on the radar of governments when they plan economic policy. We survive as we operate in small niche markets, where there is no economy of scale for multi nationals to make huge profits. Often we do the things that keep the economy running, adding huge value to the economy and getting nothing in return. Let me give just one example. Amy Winehouse started her musical journey rehearsing at Mill Hill Music Complex. She went on to be a global star. Sales of her music have brought huge amounts of money into the UK economy. Without a business like us, where would she have started the journey? But there are so few music studios and we are run independently, so we don't get a seat at the table. Councils don't recognise the value we add, national governments are not interested. They talk a good game about supporting the arts, but they do nothing at grassroots level for venues.
Someone recently criticised me, saying that all I was interested in is my business and making a profit "why should music studios be a special case". Well firstly I have to talk about our sector, as no one else is. Secondly, if a business adds huge value to the UK economy, and is charged a higher proportion of tax than huge offshore businesses that do little, if anything, for the UK, then surely something is wrong?
The last few budgets have added massive costs to my companies operational costs. We have responded by using less staff and investing nothing in training and very little on replacement of equipment. If we had an environment that all of our profits didn't go in taxes, we would employ more staff and invest more in equipment, much of which comes from UK suppliers. All of this would bring in far more tax revenue, but this is never recognised.
I will update this later, if the chancellor surprises me!
