Community Promises 'Big Voice' for Small Businesses

In the UK, The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has set up a research community called 'Big Voice', through which small firms can provide their opinion and feedback to government organisations and national policymakers.

Set up by community panels specialist Verve, 'Big Voice' offers a platform where FSB members can answer questions on the issues that are important to their businesses, with recent polls covering topics such as broadband, access to finance, employment, pensions and tax. Resulting data will be used by the FSB as a basis of its discussions with the Prime Minister, and other politicians, with a view to driving change at all levels of government.

In addition, those who join the new community can become part of the quarterly Small Business Index, which tracks business confidence over time. FSB works in partnership with the Centre for Economic and Business Research to create the Index, and to demonstrate the impact small businesses are having on the economy.

John Allan (pictured), FSB National Chairman, comments: 'The Big Voice survey panel shines a spotlight on the issues important to small businesses. No matter how small the company, the experiences of its owner helps policy makers and politicians understand the needs of small businesses and how they operate.'

Web site: www.fsb.org.uk .