Home > General Financial News > Businesses welcome small minimum wage increase

Businesses welcome small minimum wage increase

Published On 8 March 2007 at 09:57:48

The government's decision earlier this week to only increase the national minimum wage by 17p per hour is good news for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), says an industry body.

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), many SMEs feared that the minimum wage would be increased by more than the rate of inflation, as it had been in the past. This would have put further wage pressure on employers and could have led to job losses.

However, the BRC welcomed the Low Pay Commission's decision to only increase the rate inline with inflation and described it as "good news and exactly what we asked for".

"Hard-pressed retailers have had to cope with a £2.7 billion hike in wage bills caused by the previous two above-inflation increases," explained BRC director general Kevin Hawkins.

Mr Hawkins also called on the government to "end to this annual uncertainty" over how much the minimum wage will increase by.

"There should be no real-terms increase next year either while the commission reviews the future direction of the minimum wage and produces what we hope will be a more predictable formula for future changes," he added.

Since the minimum wage was re-introduced in 1999, it has increased for workers over 21 from £3.60 to £5.52 per hour.

 

Related General Financial News:

• FSB criticises government policies on SME tax
  17 May 2007 at 11:17:06
  The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has slammed the government's taxation policy, saying that it harms small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.
• Business leaders cautiously acknowledge rate rise
  10 May 2007 at 12:55:37
  Business leaders acknowledged that today's (May 10th) decision to increase interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent was probably needed, but have urged caution in the future.
• SMEs 'throwing away free money'
  9 May 2007 at 16:19:56
  Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still missing out on financially lucrative research and development (R&D) tax relief, KPMG has suggested.
• Business insolvencies fall
  9 May 2007 at 10:57:48
  Fewer companies - including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - went into liquidation in the first quarter of the year, new figures suggest.
• BCC: 'Keep up the good work MPC'
  8 May 2007 at 08:53:16
  Ahead of this week's interest decision, the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has praised what the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has achieved in the last decade.
• Regulator gets tough on financial SMEs
  16 April 2007 at 08:57:55
  A regulator which monitors the activity of firms working in the financial services sector has revealed that it plans to focus its attention on the UK's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• Base Rate remains at 5.25 per cent for another month
  5 April 2007 at 13:00:04
  In a move which is likely to please small and medium-sized businesses with extensive borrowing, the Bank of England has announced that interest rates will remain unchanged in April.