What will Theresa May’s premiership mean for businesses?

David Cameron will step down as UK Prime Minister today, handing the keys to Number 10 over to former Home Secretary Theresa May.

Once in office Ms May will begin naming her frontbench team, and although her premiership could be short lived – her victory in the race to becoming Conservative Party leader sending speculation of an early general election into overdrive – company bosses are nevertheless asking where Ms May stands on key business issues.

Here’s what we know:

Trade with China

Ms May has previously made it clear she considers China to be one of the UK’s key markets for overseas trade.

She said: “It is an important market for the UK and I am pleased to say that we have seen some strong growth in the number of Chinese visitors to the UK for both business and tourism.”

Hailing China as one of Britain’s “priority markets”, Ms May explained how the government has undertaken “changes to our system” to improve that relationship further.

She added: “Half our Chinese business customers, for example, now benefit from access to a priority scheme. We have opened new expanded visa application centres in a number of cities.”

Flexibility

On flexible working, Ms May has adopted a more guarded stance.

She said: “There is a real difference between how small businesses can cope with regulation and that burden and how a large business with a big human resources department can cope.

“I continue to believe that flexible working and flexible parental leave will be of benefit overall and will benefit many small businesses, a number of which already operate flexibly.”

However, she added that it would be better to avoid “constantly requiring businesses to effect innovations”.

Female entrepreneurs

Ms May has previously outlined how she supports getting women into business.

She said: “If women set up businesses at the same rate as men in the UK, we would have 150k new business startups each year.

“We are encouraging the establishment of small businesses through excellent initiatives such as the new enterprise allowance, which will provide mentors and financial support to help the unemployed to become self-employed.”

Speaking further, the former Home Secretary said the government has recruited business mentors to specifically work with female entrepreneurs, as accessing finance is much harder for women.

FSB’s take on a post-Brexit PM

Of course, when it comes to Ms May’s current stance on business, particularly in the wake of becoming PM, we can only speculate until she confirms her frontbench team and makes clear her policies.

Mike Cherry, the national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), has called for post-Brexit stability.

He said: “With Theresa May now confirmed as the next UK Prime Minister, the Government must act decisively to secure our long-term economic stability after the decision to leave the EU. Immediate action is needed to improve small business confidence and allow them to reliably plan ahead for the future.

“The new Prime Minister will decide the UK’s approach to EU negotiations, and she must ensure that smaller firms’ interests are taken into account - simple access to the single market, the ability to hire the right people, continued EU funding for key schemes and clarity on the future regulatory framework.”

He added: “We also call on Theresa May, as the new Prime Minister, to guarantee non-UK EU nationals, many of whom run their own small businesses or are employed by small businesses, to be granted the right to remain in the UK both during the negotiations and thereafter - and to use the negotiations to ensure that UK small firms and the self-employed who work in the EU can continue to do so.”

Mr Cherry said that as business confidence is now at “an all-time low”, the Government needs to “get back to business” on the vital issues put on hold during the EU referendum campaign and the fallout that followed.

He explained: “These include key infrastructure projects like airport expansion, HS2, energy security and the Northern Powerhouse as well as delivering on business rates pledges and changing plans for quarterly tax returns.”

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