More than half of small businesses believe Gordon Brown has yet to prove himself despite spending a decade as chancellor, it has been claimed.
Only 17% of small firms said they believed they would be better off with Brown as prime minister, according to a survey by telecoms provider Unicom.
In fact, 25% said they thought Brown’s policies would be worse for small businesses, and 58% said he had not proven himself one way or the other.
“Given Gordon Brown’s profile and reputation as chancellor, and his apparently amassed credibility in the wider business sector, this is actually something of a surprise,” said Chris Earle, operations director of Unicom.
Earle said the small business sector jury was still out on whether Brown would prove beneficial to them, but warned the new prime minister not to ignore the cries of the UK’s small firms.
“He may well have his hands full on terrorism and flooding issues in the first few days after his appointment, but as soon as he is able to he must show an interest in small businesses - or ensure that his chancellor, Alistair Darling, or business and enterprise minister John Hutton, get stuck in.”
Earle said Brown could have a huge problem on his hands if he did not ‘gain the hearts, minds and confidence of small business’ soon.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
