Bridgwater candidate for next week’s Town and District council elections, Diogo Rodrigues, says Labour is the party that can help small businesses to thrive. Diogo – Labour candidate for Dunwear alongside sitting councillor Leigh Redman – worked for several years in his family’s restaurant business. He says:
If we are to succeed as a country then we need to help the hard working people who want to venture into small businesses and help those small businesses that need the helping hand to succeed even further.
Having worked in a family business I understand how tough it can be at times. All the bills at the end of the day sometimes can make you think, is this worth it? We went through the recession which hit us hard, there was no help available when we needed it most from any bank – they just wouldn’t lend. And now we find it is the same thing. Ten years strong and we want to expand the business, but the banks just won’t lend. Labour is leading the way to help business like our family business and many other small businesses alike in the country.
Making things easier for small businesses
Labour understands that small businesses are the backbone of this economy and that is why we are pledging to make things easier for small businesses by:
• Creating a Small Business Administration, which will ensure procurement contracts are accessible and regulations are designed with small firms in mind
• Cutting, and then freezing business rates for over 1.5 million smaller business properties
• Freezing energy bills until 2017 and ending unfair contracts and aic rollovers to more expensive tariffs
• Developing a banking system that works for businesses in every region and every sector in Britain
• Labour will establish a British Investment Bank with the mission to help businesses grow and to create wealth and jobs
These policies will help many small businesses to succeed in this competitive economy and provide a good shot at running against the larger corporations that have for too long pushed people out of business.
Focus on our town centres
Locally, Labour will fight rigid planning rules that prevent local initiative and work with local traders to complement and develop their businesses. As well as this we will consistently oppose planning decisions that degenerate our town centre. We will continuously support small businesses in Bridgwater and look at ways to increase footfall in the town centre to benefit local businesses. I also believe we should look at ways in which to encourage more small businesses to set up shop in the town centre instead of larger chain companies taking over the currently empty shops.
The Labour Party is paving the better and fairer way forward for small businesses.