Red tape and EU regulations are killing small businesses as paperwork takes over
As many as 500 small businesses were polled by study and said they were being swamped by a slog of admin work
RED tape and EU regulations are causing productivity to grind to a halt in Britain’s small businesses according to new research.
The average business owner now spends over a quarter of their work time slogging through admin, instead of growing their enterprise.
A study into the habits of 500 SMEs (small and medium enterprises), commissioned by online printing company instantprint, revealed that dealing with HR compliance forms, pension paperwork and health and safety regulations eats up an average of ten hours of the working week.
One in ten business owners has less than an hour a week earmarked for business growth, while 8 per cent say they struggle to find any time at all.
Co-founder of instantprint, James Kinsella, who commissioned the research, said: “We all know how it feels to fight the clock. There are only so many hours in the day to get everything done and SMEs are feeling the squeeze.
“Every business is unique, but improving time management and optimising working hours can only bring positive outcomes to the UK’s SMEs.”
The study also asked business owners to specify which regulations were impacting their businesses the most.
One entrepreneur said “While members of my staff work in other countries, EU restrictions impact me more in the UK than anywhere else.”
Another said: “Higher penalties for non-compliance with these regulations are being passed on to small businesses and it’s making it harder to sustain a profit.”
