Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)

Fine fallout, UK-India trade, pensions, council spending, T Levels, skills, and all the week's top small business news, out now in Weekly Brief: 🔗 linkedin.com/pulse/fine-fal…

Does your small firm use Standard Essential Patents (SEPs)? 💡 💭 SEPs are critical to many innovations, but the system can be tricky to navigate. That's why the Government has launched a new consultation to make the SEP system more user-friendly. Find out more ⤵️ 🔗…

🚢 Today's new trade deal with India provides exciting growth prospects for UK small businesses, with our research showing that 1 in 7 small exporters already have India among their overseas markets 📦 ✅ Encouraging more small firms to trade internationally, and making it…

📉 Are you struggling to find or hold onto the right staff? 📊 Are you worried about skills gaps in your business? 📍Are you noticing changes in your local labour market? If any of that sounds familiar, FSB wants to hear from you. Small employers, Ltd co directors,…

📢 Small businesses - there's still time to have your say on the future of workplace skills 👷🏽 From skills gaps in your business, to apprenticeships, or upskilling as a sole trader, your views help us drive crucial change at every level of policymaking. Take the survey 👇 🔗…

Read all about Telegraph and Adobe Express small business winner: Becky Sibley and Wild Thyme Designs who FSB's CEO Julie Lilley will be mentoring 🌺: telegraph.co.uk/business/adobe… @AdobeExpress @TelegraphWorks

🐟 A £40,000 fine dished out by the Home Office to a fish and chip shop in Surrey for a genuine clerical error when conducting right-to-work checks is completely disproportionate, and could have led to the closure of the business. 📻 FSB's Alan Soady tells @JamesCannon66 on…

🗞️ All the week's most important small business news in one place. ✅ Subscribe to FSB's Weekly Brief Newsletter on email and LinkedIn newsletters to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. 📧 E: go.fsb.org.uk/3QWcJDX 📥 LI: go.fsb.org.uk/4cKAkjC

💷🐟 The Home Office issuing a £40,000 fine to a chip shop over a genuine error with a photocopy - with no realistic route to appeal - isn't proportionate. We've been speaking to the @guardian about the situation faced by one of our members 👇 🔗 theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/j…

🚩 More than half of small employers say auto-enrolment is one of the biggest hurdles they face. It's vital that the Government's pensions review places the needs of small employers front and centre, we told @theipaper 👇 inews.co.uk/news/politics/…

👷🏽 Have your say on the future of workplace skills in our new survey 👨🏿‍💻 💭 We want your views on everything from skills gaps in your small business to hiring an apprentice to help us form policy recommendations to key decision-makers. Take the survey 👇 🔗…

Unlike big corporates or public bodies - SMEs don’t have HR Directors/teams, or in-house legal employment experts to handle complex industrial relations with trade unions So we need some sensible lawmaking in Parliament, tomorrow A 🧵 on amending the #EmploymentRightsBill👇 1/

🗞️ OUT NOW: All the most important small business news in the latest edition of the Weekly Brief 👇 linkedin.com/pulse/sbi-skil…

📈 With the rise in unemployment, there is a weight of evidence to show that if you make it more expensive and riskier to give someone a job, the result will be fewer jobs. FSB's @tinamckenz spoke to the @FT ⤵️ ft.com/content/18fae1…

Government must ‘take its head out of the sand’ after jobs plunge bit.ly/40RtXYk

📉 Official ONS figures show yet another drop in Level 2 & 3 apprenticeships- mostly used by small businesses. We want the apprenticeship levy to be an effective way for small firms to recruit talented young people, fill skills gaps and grow businesses. 💬 Apprenticeships are…

📈 The rise in unemployment figures shows that making employment more expensive and riskier results in fewer jobs. ➡️ The Government must base policy-making on real-world evidence, rather than being swayed by wishful-thinkers. Read our full release 🔗 go.fsb.org.uk/46K4FPx

👷🏽 Small businesses - have your say on skills in our new survey 👨🏿‍💻 💭 From skills gaps in your business to hiring an apprentice, your views will help form crucial policy recommendations to decision-makers on a range of topics. Take the survey 👇 🔗 unbrandedfsbbigvoice.uk/c/r/Skills

🗞️ All the week's most important small business news in one place. ✅ Sign up for FSB's Weekly Brief Newsletter on email and LinkedIn newsletters to get it sent straight to your inbox every Friday. 📧 E: go.fsb.org.uk/3QWcJDX 📥 LI: go.fsb.org.uk/4cKAkjC

💷 Adding in steep rises to pension costs would have a damaging impact on employment levels among small firms. Any changes to the pensions auto-enrolment system should make it simpler and less costly for SMEs to navigate. We spoke to @thetimes 👇 thetimes.com/business-money…