Lancashire business group pleads with PM to help save jobs

Official statistics showed a sharp drop in the number of paid employees – down by 2.1 per cent or 612,000 in May compared with March – and a huge increase in benefit claims.

The figures prompted the Lancashire-headquartered Federation of Small Businesses to urge the Government to take action to help smaller businesses through the crisis.

Although the UK jobless rate remained largely unchanged quarter on quarter at 3.9 per cent in the three months to April, with unemployment at 1.34 million, there are fears that more redundancies could follow as Government support is withdrawn over the coming months.

The figures reflect the impact of around six weeks of lockdown in the UK, in which almost nine million workers have been furloughed.

FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry said: “For many of the 17 million people who own or work in a smaller business across the UK, the past few months have been the toughest they can remember.

“As we look to recover from this recession, the Government should take a holistic approach to job market interventions.

"No single new policy will be enough: reducing employment costs, supporting apprenticeships and retraining initiatives all need to be part of the mix.

“Nine in ten people who left unemployment to re-join the workforce during the last crash did so via a small business or self-employment so it’s critical that we get this right"

Mr Cherry added: “Four in ten small firms cite labour costs as a primary barrier to business growth.

"Far more needs to be done to help them manage those costs"