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Should small-business owners zip up about politics?

ended 26. October 2022

Over the weekend, Newspage was alerted to comments from a “content strategist”,  “fintech journalist” and “contributor to the Financial Times” on LinkedIn. The person's post effectively said no one in the media cares what SMEs think about the future of the UK government. And that PR agencies (and by default platforms like Newspage) should stop sending the views of SME owners regarding political events to the media.

Here are the exact words used:

“A quick reminder for UK PRs. No one cares what the chief executive of your small or medium-sized business client thinks about the future of the UK government.”

Newspage asked small business owners for their opinions on this. The views of 20 are below.

17 responses from the Newspage community

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Premium
Michael Oszmann
Founder & CEO at Buy Britain
99.2% of UK businesses are small businesses so they should absolutely have a voice on matters relating to the economy and politics, which are by default intertwined. They are the economy and their views on politics need to be heard.
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Craig Bunting
Co-founder at BEAR
A pretty terrible content strategy is to dismiss ground-up opinions from the heartbeat of the UK economy, namely the small business community that contributes so much, creates so many jobs and, through grit and dogged determination, innovates and inspires the country through its entrepreneurial spirit.
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Lee Chambers
Founder / Psychologist at Male Allies UK
SMEs are a massive net positive to the country economically, socially, culturally and politically, and even the the giant corporations were an SME at one point in time. We feel the impact of policies, changes and challenges before bigger organisations do. We are the early indicators for what’s bubbling under the surface. And if we were actually listened to, we wouldn’t be in such an economic sh!tstorm. We can provide live feedback that cuts through the noise and bluster from those sat around thinking about things and doing little. If you can run an SME in these high seas, you’re probably well equipped to run a nation, or at least advise those that do. Ignore us at your peril.
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Dan Osman
Head of Later Life Lending (Age 55+) at UK Moneyman
This statement is frankly unbelievable. If the media and politicians don't listen to our voices, the experiences of people on the ground, which is made possible by platforms like Newspage, then no one will be held to account.
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David McCreadie
Managing Director at Swi-tch
Nobody cared what Elon had to say about electric vehicles, until they did. Nobody cared what Jeff Bezos had to say about e-commerce, until they did. Some small businesses today will be the people we look up to tomorrow and will eat those with damaging opinions like this for breakfast.
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Editor
Rob Peters
Principal at Simple Fast Mortgage
In the words of Phineas T. Barnum, "There's no such thing as bad publicity" and this guy's comments stink of clickbait more than a fresh turd during a July heatwave.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
Within 48 hours of me appearing on Sky News saying we need a new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked. I'm not saying that had anything to do with me, a small business owner, and the platform, Newspage, gave me but...
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Rachel Hayward
MD at Ask the Chameleon
Small businesses are the UK economy. There are 5.5m of us, and people like this and the UK Government would do well to remember that. We are three fifths of all employment and half of all turnover. Our views on politics matter, and arguably more than those of big business, as we are the real economy.
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Ian Hewett
Founder at The Bearded Mortgage Broker
Why don't the opinions of small business owners in relation to politics matter. Politics and economics go hand in hand and we small business owners are the economy. Everyone has a view on politics and should be able to air that through the media. If that stops, then we are all doomed.
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Taryn Lee Johnston
Owner at The FCM Group
It's appalling rhetoric like this that has left the 5 million, or 94% of UK business owners, without support and without a voice over the past three years. It's time that narrow-minded and shortsighted individuals like this took a back seat, sat the hell down and shut up. Large corporations do not, and cannot, speak for the majority any more, they are incapable of understanding fast-paced business and what it takes to succeed in the smaller and more flexible arena. This statement is pathetic and to those people who hold these views, I would say your time is up.
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Jonathan Burridge
Founding Adviser at We Are Money
Why should I care what this guy thinks? After all, he is not speaking as a member of the group that he says should stop speaking. What an absolute plonker.
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Sophie de Taranto
Owner at Shutter Jewellery
EVERYONE should shut up about politics unless they’ve got something of value to add, and that includes politicians. Anyone who can provide strong and valid ideas about how this country could be run better deserve the floor, and that includes small business owners. Small business owners can give politicians a pretty clear explanation about what’s working and what isn’t and what changes could genuinely help. Because small business owners are their business, they have a handle on everything from sales and supply chains to customer feedback and can tell you how changes affect them pretty quickly. One small business owner’s experience might not seem significant in isolation, but there are millions of us, and we merit a voice.
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Legend
Julia Usher
Managing Director at Ashes Memorial Jewellery
What utter rubbish. SMEs contribute more than £2 trillion in turnover to the UK economy. Research done in August this year reveals how important small and medium enterprises are for the British economy, as businesses that employ between one and 249 employees contribute more than £2 trillion in turnover and employ 44% of the British workforce. These facts speak for themselves. Without the voice of the SMEs, the government would be running even more blind. Small businesses are vital to the UK economy as we are at the coal face. We create jobs, innovate and offer services and products to real people. We do not sit in our gold-plated offices spouting utter rubbish and being keyboard warriors. We are the ones that are fighting right now to try and keep the wheels of our economy turning and people in jobs.
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Sara Hall
Founder at Lilibet & Phil Publishing House
This is precisely the level of arrogance that is slowly killing this country. It smacks of our new PM announcing to the world that he doesn't have working class friends. Small businesses are the economy, in case you hadn't noticed. At a time when millions are having to choose between heating and eating, we could not have a more out of touch with reality government or PM. "Content strategist”? Reminds me of the Rhod Gilbert sketch, "The Award winning mince pie", and it royally annoys the snot out of me.
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Malcolm Baker
Office Manager at Halo Beauty and Holistic Therapy
Honestly, some people are so detached from reality, you cannot help but laugh. Obviously, it just proves that those at the top don't give a flying FCUK about the views of the real workers of this country. Proof that "Liz Truss" and her "trickle-down effect" for the economy was never gonna work.
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Desiree Silverstone
Director at Head Honchos Executive Coaching
As a psychotherapist and executive coach, these comments smack of a narcissistic personality. Very grandiose thinking. Perhaps he is related to Trump who likes to control the world. You can’t reason with madness.
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Legend
Racheal Straughan
Founder at Mayfli
Now is the time small businesses should be shouting the loudest and being heard. SMEs account for 99.3 % of total businesses and three-fifths of UK employment generating lots of employment opportunities across the UK. The government says they want to LEVEL UP but how can they do this without talking to the businesses themselves? How can you bake a cake without knowing the ingredients? To help and improve our economy and high streets, SMEs need a voice and we need to be heard. I think anyone in government should not be allowed to be involved in their own private companies or sit on the boards of corporate companies. I feel there is too much of if you scratch my back I will scratch yours, leaving out the small businesses that don't have offshore accounts allowing them to not pay their full taxes. SMEs pay their taxes in full so I think we have every right to have our say about politics if not more of a say than big business. I ask myself daily, why do the government allow Amazon, Airbnb, Uber Eats and all the other large USA corporations to suck the life and profits out of UK independent businesses? We need the government to listen to, and act on, what SMEs are saying, because we live in the real world and we know what is happening on the ground.