SCOTTISH firms should prepare for unsettled trading conditions as governments take action on climate change and the country grapples with a series of major challenges, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned.
Ahead of its annual dinner next Thursday, the industry body revealed official statistics which show that 1.2 million Scots – about half of the private sector workforce – are either employed by a smaller businesses or are self-employed.
The FSB said Scotland won’t be able to lower emissions while delivering inclusive growth without the support of the more than 340,000 Scottish small and medium-sized businesses.
FSB’s Scotland policy chair Andrew McRae said: “No matter whether we like it or not, change is coming to Scotland’s smaller business community.
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“Scotland’s political parties agree that dramatic action needs to be taken to reduce carbon emissions by 2030. We need to defuse the demographic time-bomb of our ageing population. And who knows what the outcome of the General Election will mean for our relationship with the EU.
“Smaller businesses can neither be insulated from this change, nor swept away by it. And because smaller businesses operate in every corner of the country, generating half of all private sector jobs, they can help local communities adapt to whatever comes next.
He added: “But we must not stretch Scottish smaller firms’ adaptability to the limit. At every turn, decision-makers must realise that every business isn’t a multinational and every penny spent adapting to one thing can’t be spent preparing for another.”
Meanwhile, FSB’s annual dinner, taking place in Glasgow’s Grand Central and sponsored by FSB Insurance Service, will attract around 300 guests, including business owners and decision-makers. Award-winning Scottish young entrepreneur Liv Conlon and comedian and commentator Ayesha Hazarika will address the event.
The FSB Insurance Service was launched in February 2018, is part owned by FSB and is exclusively available to FSB members.
This year, FSB launched campaigns to ensure smaller firms get a fair share of public contracts and argued for new action to boost Scotland’s town centres.
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