Matt Newing, chief executive of Elite Telecom, says: “Business owners have spent the past decade being strangled by red tape and higher taxation yet we are the ones creating wealth and jobs. Support for enterprise is in need of a significant overhaul but this is unlikely to happen with a coalition government and no clear mandate for change.
“If the new government, whatever shape it eventually takes, wants to regain the trust of small business owners then oppressive measures such as the National Insurance increase - which is effectively a tax on jobs – must be reversed.
“The economic recovery is still precarious at best so strong government is needed from day one, not a period of conversation and haggling that serves to water down policy. I would urge the politicians to redraw their lines as quickly as possible and then get back to the real business of running the country.”