WETF response to Budget 2009
Budget 2009 has gone some way towards supporting business and thus women’s enterprise to survive and strengthen.
The Women’s Enterprise Task Force (WETF) is dedicated to supporting the cause of women’s businesses, the majority of which are in the small and micro sector. Measures which the WETF notes will most benefit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) include:
- a top up scheme to support trade credit insurance where banks reduce the amount of cover provided;
- the doubling of capital allowances for firms investing more than £50,000;
- an additional £250m support for employers to be spent on training;
- the ability to defer tax payments.
The WETF also welcomes the new £750m Strategic Investment Fund, part of Government’s industrial activism strategy, Building Britain’s Future: New Industry, New Jobs. The WETF is keen that the role of women’s high-growth, high-innovation enterprises should be understood and valued within the key sectors and new markets which will be enablers of economic recovery.
The WETF will continue to work closely with partners to ensure that Budget measures, including access to growth capital, benefit women and complement existing initiatives such as the Aspire women’s co-investment fund.