The Bristol office of accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson is calling for the reintroduction of tax breaks for companies which fund innovative, early-stage businesses.
The plea to the Government comes in the firm’s Unleashing British Business report, which highlights key measures needed to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.
Smith & Williamson recently staged an influential forum of 60 business leaders in conjunction with Cubitt Consulting and The Centre for Entrepreneurs to look at how best to meet the potential of the country’s dynamic, fledgling businesses.
The forum called for the return of the Government’s Corporate Venturing Scheme, which was aimed at companies directly investing in earlier stage, higher-risk businesses, and provided tax incentives for corporate equity investment.
The aim was to increase the availability of venture capital and foster wider corporate venturing relationships between otherwise unconnected companies. 
Smith & Williamson’s Bristol office managing partner Mike Lea said: “The increasingly entrepreneurial culture in the West of England and across the UK has the potential to bring huge benefits to our society but we need to do more to incentivise business.
“This includes a more favourable tax regime for entrepreneurs and start-ups as well as tax breaks for established companies looking to invest in, mentor or support entrepreneurs and their new ventures. This is one of the reasons why we are urging [Business Secretary] Vince Cable to bring back the Corporate Venturing Scheme, which proved to be the right tool but at the wrong time.”
With many issues affecting the success of Britain’s entrepreneurial culture – including difficulty in raising finance, the complexity of tax and regulatory systems, infrastructure, education and immigration – some of the remedial measures discussed in the report included:
· Creating family-friendly tax policies as current tax policies often deny families the benefits enjoyed by individuals who are ‘unconnected’ investors
· Reintroducing a Corporate Venturing Scheme, giving tax incentives to companies which invest in and support SMEs through mentoring and wider collaboration
· Reintroducing a small company tax rate with meaningful differentials
· Encouraging SMEs and self-employed people to recruit by removing harmful and costly red tape
· Reintroducing relationship banking to provide additional advice and experience to SMEs
· Increasing the amount of investment in digital, housing and transport infrastructure both inside and outside major UK cities
To download a free copy of the report, visit www.smith.williamson.co.uk/uploads/publications/unleashing-british-business.pdf
