Member Article

Government wants to be 'aggressively pro-business'

The government is looking to refresh its approach to enterprise and supporting small business, according to the new Business and Enterprise secretary. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, John Hutton, head of the government’s new Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR), said ‘initiatives and new ways of working with small business’ were being planned.

The DBERR replaced the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) three weeks ago. Hutton said removing the words ‘trade’ and ‘industry’ in favour of ‘business’ and ‘enterprise’ was a move to reflect the role of small business ‘as the engine of the economy’.

Mr Hutton said: “Business and enterprise is a far better description of our mission. At the end of the day, though, changing a name does not change anything. Actions speak louder than words. “On the bureaucracy-busting stuff, I think the government in the last 10 years has come a long way. We have made some very significant, and I think some unprecedented, offerings to business about how we are going to cut the cost of regulation.”

Hutton said he wanted the DBERR to be ‘aggressively pro-business’ and there would be announcements over the following few weeks on cutting regulatory load.

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