The government has been urged to do more to help the UK’s ‘forgotten army’ of medium-sized businesses.
The plea has come from the CBI, which today said new measures should be brought in to improve access to finance, especially in the bond markets.
Businesses turning over between £10m and £100m represent less than 1% of UK businesses but generate 22% of revenues and 16% of all jobs, the CBI said today, yet they remain ‘under the radar’ of policymakers.
CBI director general John Cridland said: “Medium-sized businesses are truly a forgotten army, and now is the time to unlock their potential.
“We should be championing, nurturing and encouraging our mid-sized firms so that more of them grow and create jobs. For too long these companies, which could inject tens of billions of pounds into our economy, have fallen under the radar of policymakers.”
Mr Cridland said he would like to see the UK develop its own version of Germany’s Mittelstand – the powerful group of medium-sized firms which export, innovate and generate growth.
“To achieve extra growth, medium-sized firms must have access to new kinds of finance,” he said.
“This means opening UK bond markets to medium-sized businesses, encouraging use of venture capital, and making it easier for large companies to invest in medium ones, possibly in their supply chains.”
The government said it welcomed the CBI comments and said it already focused on these businesses.
