Building a new future for small businesses and freelancers.

BACKINBUSINESS UPDATE.

BackinBusiness has been going for just over a year and now we wanted to share that we are putting the project on ice, but for very positive reasons.

The team of wonderful, skilled young people who have kept us going in terms of the website, technology, recordings, social media, press and public affairs, production etc have all found paid work after a very worrying year. I like to think that the experience they have gained with us (learning from old timers like Mickey Clark, Declan Curry and myself) has helped with increased confidence and enhanced CVs. In reality they were always going to get work because they are brilliant, good at what they do, and have entrepreneurial spirit and the right attitude.

We’ve loved every minute of BackinBusiness, talking to scores of politicians about the issues you’ve raised with us, and have become optimistic about the future because there are so many determined small business people who will drive the recovery.

I am starting a new role as Small Business Commissioner for the UK on 1st July so will go on trying to make the policy makers understand that small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy and the engine for creating jobs, and that there are issues such as late payment, public sector procurement, the tax regime, IR35, etc, etc that have to be addressed. Small businesses need to be listened to and have a voice.

BackinBusiness may be back, who knows. In the meantime I hope as many of you as possible will let me know what’s really going on in the small business sector, and what I can do to help fix it.

All the best,

Liz Barclay