Travel recruitment specialists have called for red tape to be slashed to encourage small and medium-sized travel businesses to take on new employees.
Ahead of today’s budget, executive recruitment companies Gail Kenny Group and HARP Wallen said they would welcome a move to make it easier for businesses to recruit staff and more support for smaller enterprises.
They join Tory MPs in the Free Enterprise Group who have called on the government to sweep away restrictive employment regulations that make it difficult for small firms to recruit new members of staff.
Gail Kenny Group managing director Gail Kenny said: “It would be good if there was less red tape to encourage small businesses to get smarter and make quicker decisions.”
Kristina Wallen, managing director of HARP Wallen executive recruitment agency, added: “It should be a lot easier to hire staff and assistance should be given for training and development.”
She also called for the government to make it easier for small businesses to access funding, such as a cash injection from the bank, so they can expand their businesses.
“Someone should be looking at what banks are actually doing to support small to medium-sized enterprises. I would bet a lot of companies, not necessarily in travel, are being supported by friends and family.
“There is no support from our banking system. If you do want a cash injection for your business it’s a very lengthy process even if a business is well-established.”
Wallen also wants to see larger businesses forced to pay monies owed to smaller companies more promptly to help them survive.
“It’s not socially responsible for companies to take 90 days to pay a small business which has jumped through lots of hoops to be a preferred supplier. You cannot employ lots of people if your company is not paid promptly.”