Over a million workers are employed in Scotland’s 340,000 small and medium-sized businesses—that’s about half of the private sector workforce. It is little wonder, then, that both sides of the Scottish independence debate are trying their hardest to persuade small firms to vote for them.
Last week, two letters were sent to Scottish newspapers by groups of business people with very different views on what independence might mean for commerce. They broadly echoed the arguments made by the two campaigns.
Better Together, the official campaign for a No vote, unsurprisingly argues that Scottish small businesses’ interests are best served by remaining part of the UK. Independence, they warn, risks access to both UK markets and the rest of the EU. They suggest that any transition would be costly and that new institutions, tax and regulatory regimes would usher in extra layers of risk, cost and complexity not be favourable to small enterprises.
"The United Kingdom gives business the strong platform we must have to invest in jobs and industry. By continuing to work together, we can keep Scotland flourishing"Conversely, pro-independence body Yes Scotland claims that Scottish small businesses would actually benefit from new institutions, tax and regulatory systems, which would be better designed to serve Scotland’s interests. They argue that Scottish businesses would have continued access to UK markets and that it is the rising tide of English euroscepticisim not nationalism, which puts our access to Europe most at risk.
"An independent Scotland... will place power in the hands of Scotland's people to channel the huge resources of our country in the interests of those who live and work here"So what do small businesses think about the efforts to woo them?
Judging by the responses to a poll of 1,800 Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) members in Scotland, it’s fair to say that they are yet to be swept off their feet. This revealed that some three quarters had searched for information to help them decide how to vote, but most found the official guides wanting. Fifty eight per cent of those who had read the Scottish Government’s White Paper and 53 per cent of those that had read the UK Government’s analysis papers didn’t find them useful.
Our research suggests that business owners want to know things like what will happen to their margins, whether there will be more or less red tape, how easy it will be to access existing and new markets. But, as the guide published by the FSB and University of Edinburgh Business School found, answers to many of these practical questions hinge on the two big—and bitterly contested—issues of the campaign: will we be a member of the EU, and if so on what terms; and which currency option will be adopted. Other issues—the postal or tax systems, say—would depend on what would happen in the negotiations and elections that would follow a Yes vote.
With just over a fortnight to go, it doesn’t look likely that any consensus is going to emerge and unfortunately many business owners are going to have to make their decisions based on which set of politicians they believe.
Colin Borland is head of external affairs for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in Scotland
