The first up at the crease, when the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee's (EET) begins its review of Scottish Enterprise and the small firms support body Business Gateway (BG), will be the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland (FSB).
The small business organisation has claimed that the current structure has left a gap in the support of businesses that are struggling in the current economic climate.
In the Scotsman on Sunday, Michael Dixon, the FSB's Edinburgh branch chairman noted that,
"The vast majority of businesses who are not start-ups or are left outside the elite Scottish Enterprise stable of 2,000 account-managed companies feel that there is no place for them in this set up. Now more than ever, the jobs, services and revenue these businesses provide are crucial to our economic growth and should not be excluded from support on the basis of arbitrary targets. What we are not trying to do is say this is all rubbish and start again. We want to see that businesses no matter what their sector, size and growth potential get support."
It is heartening to see that Scottish MSPs are taking an interest in small business support, especially as the Learning and Enterprise Committee has allowed the Economic Renewal Programme to be adopted with comment or criticism.
The FSB in Scotland is also to be congratulated on making a stand for small businesses.
One can only hope, following the CBI’s remarks last week, that the FSB in Wales is about to do the same.
