Member Article

Red tape masking business potential

New research unveiled today by the Chamber of Commerce has discovered that the additional cost of red tape and regulation to business in the North East since 1998 is in excess of £512m. This figure illustrates the remarkable growth in the burden of regulation from Westminster and Brussels, which is restricting the competitiveness of local businesses.

The 2007 Burdens Barometer, produced by the British Chambers of Commerce and also released today, has calculated that the total cost to UK business of new regulation since 1998 has been a phenomenal £55.66bn. This represents an estimated £12,818 additional cost to the average business. The red tape burden was calculated by taking the total amount of new legislation and the impact it has on business and dividing that by the number of VAT registered and/or PAYE registered business.

James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is time for the Government to nail its colours to the wall on this issue and to take a scythe to regulation so that businesses can focus on the day job rather than being distracted by acres of forms, rules and regulations.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .