UKJSAC welcomes gov business plan but calls for further support

The UK Jewellery, Silverware and Allied Crafts (UKJSAC) Roundtable Group has welcomed the government’s new Backing Your Business plan, while urging further measures to support creative and craft-led microbusinesses.

The plan, aimed at strengthening the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) landscape, includes reforms to licensing, permanent business rate reductions for retail and hospitality, expanded access to finance through the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme, and annual skills investment of £1.2bn.

A new Safer Streets initiative will also see 13,000 additional police officers deployed to tackle shoplifting and improve public safety. Meanwhile, the Government has pledged to reduce regulatory administrative costs by 25%.

UKJSAC said that many of these proposals align with its recent submission to the Government’s Small Business Inquiry, particularly in areas such as revitalising high streets, improving access to finance, simplifying tax and regulation, and enhancing leadership and skills.

However, the group warned that more must be done. It called for the return of tax-free shopping for international visitors, better parking and accessibility to boost footfall, improved succession planning support for family-run firms, and updated Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes to better reflect the sector’s contribution to the economy.

This marked the fourth policy submission UKJSAC has made in the past year, following previous contributions to the Industrial Strategy, the State of Play review through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and the House of Lords Education Committee inquiry.

The group urged continued collaboration between government and the creative industries as the new plan is implemented.

Ben Massey, chief executive of the National Association of Jewellers and secretariat for UKJSAC, said: “The Backing Your Business plan demonstrates welcome recognition of the vital role small and microbusinesses play in the UK economy, and we look forward to engaging and supporting its roll out.

“While there are clear alignments between the proposed reforms and the recommendations we submitted, we see further opportunities to strengthen support for UK high streets, especially with tax and regulatory burdens and strategic initiatives such as the return of tax-free shopping.”