A YEAR OF CAMPAIGNING FOR SUPPORT FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

Summary:

• The #ForgottenLtd campaign is 1 year old on the 9th April
• Small limited companies are closing daily, with 1000s of job losses
• The government continues to avoid putting together a rescue plan for small businesses
• Link to film: https://youtu.be/yxBULhxhOMU

It was in March 2020, that the Chancellor declared that ‘no one would be left behind’ and that everyone would be supported as the UK went into lockdown to deal with the Covid19 pandemic. It is shameful that this declaration was not fulfilled for the backbone of business in the UK – the small business owner.

Within the month, it became clear however the Government had neglected to financially support the owner-directors of small limited companies in the UK, leaving millions of taxpayers with no financial help for their businesses, and very, very little income support.  They had been forgotten and they are still forgotten today, a year later.

To fight this oversight in 2020, two businesswomen, Gina Broadhurst and Philippa Lurcock - who had never met before the pandemic started - created a Facebook group called #ForgottenLtd to bring together limited company directors believing a concerted group effort would bring fair financial support for all.

One year on, the campaign is now followed by over 42,000 people and businesses and run by a team of 16 volunteers.  It has engaged directly with the Government, with Treasury, with MPs and Lords across the House, with the Metro Mayors, and business organisations across the UK.

The campaign has kept the lack of government support for this group of taxpayers in the public arena for 12 months and continues to lobby the Conservative government to put financial support packages in place for these tax-paying business owners and their companies – and to backdate them in line with others who have been well supported.

Backing for the campaign has come from many places, including organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and key government figures e.g., David Davis, Esther McVey and the 261 MP strong Gaps in Support APPG.  

Indeed, the campaign group has even presented a proposed solution to this problem to Finance Secretary Jesse Norman and the Treasury – the Director’s Income Support Scheme (DISS), which is comparable to the SEISS scheme already offered to the self-employed and which has been on HMRC desks since November 2020  – but the Treasury remain entrenched in their stance of “too difficult”, “open to fraud”, “affected directors cannot be identified” – a seemingly poor effort to address the situation which risks the closure of 2 million small limited companies and job losses of the 7.6 million people they employ.

Campaign founder Gina Broadhurst said: “The #ForgottenLtd campaign has been a labour of love over the last year. I am incredibly proud of the work we have done, but although we have developed powerful support from a wide variety of stakeholders, the Treasury do not have the political appetite to help small limited companies. We continue to push for financial assistance, in particular for home-based businesses, who have been largely left to fend for themselves.  It is now in the hands of local authorities to urgently provide grants which could save jobs and businesses, but for many it is already too late.”

Mainstream news programs, such as BBC News and Sky News, and many local news outlets nationwide have regularly featured the campaign, and the printed and online press have covered the story many, many times over the past year.  Radio stations have broadcast talk shows, Q&As, featured stories, and #ForgottenLtd group members have been filmed, recorded, and shared their stories.

All this hard work by volunteers for 12 months, and these two million small limited companies and their owner-directors are still to receive any meaningful financial support from Government, to help them and their families survive the pandemic. Many have already lost their businesses; some have lost their homes and the mental health toll on those left behind has been significant. Indeed, some have taken their own lives.

Craig Beaumont, Chief of External Affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “In the last year, #ForgottenLtd has changed the weather, and rewritten the campaign playbook on the way. They have brought such a vivid spotlight to the human stories of those with no income support, but that’s only half the story.  Uniquely, they have also reached out and worked brilliantly with others, like FSB.

The combination of passion and collaboration that they have poured into the campaign is very powerful, leading to practical proposals discussed at the highest levels of Government and right across Parliament.  I’m in awe of the hard work and commitment of Gina, Philippa, Shirley and the team, and I know the hope and support provided online to those so badly left out has been fundamental to so many holding on by their fingertips.”

The South West representative of #forgottenltd is Fiona Scott of Scott Media. She said:

"It's an ongoing injustice that the Government has made a conscious decision to exclude directors of small limited companies from any support to help cover their income. Many have been unable to operate at all due to lockdown. Some have had to take Government loans to just survive so they will come out of this situation with massive debt - when none of this was their fault. This policy also disproportionately affects female entrepreneurs, who often work from home and have not qualified for any of the government grants. These are often micro businesses and many are folding on a daily basis. It's a national disgrace."

The #ForgottenLtd campaign worked with editor Adele Carroll, scriptwriter David Hewitt and narrator Marcus Bentley during March and April 2021, to make a film to show the timeline and the lack of support from the Chancellor and the Prime Minister. The short film also makes the point that a year had passed and there are still hundreds of thousands of taxpaying business owners who are yet to receive any financial support whatsoever.