Federation of Small Businesses

Federation of Small Businesses
Abbreviation FSB
Formation 1974
Legal status Not for profit company
Purpose The UK's largest campaigning pressure group promoting and protecting the interests of the self-employed
Location
  • UK wide
Region served
 UK
Membership
 Self-employed business owners
Website FSB

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) was formed in 1974 and is the UK's leading business organisation representing small and medium-sized businesses.

About the FSB

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is a not-for-profit organisation that exists to protect and promote the FSB and small businesses. With more than 200,000 members, the FSB is a powerful lobbying organisation representing small firms to national, local and devolved Government.

The FSB also offers its members a comprehensive package of benefits, including a 24-hour legal advice line and free business banking.

As part of promoting small businesses, the FSB is running a series of local awards in each of its regions (e.g. FSB London Awards,[1]), often involving local councils.

History

The FSB was originally known as the National Federation of Self-Employed (NFSE). It was founded in 1974 by Norman Small in response to the introduction of Class 4 National Insurance contributions, which represented an additional tax burden on the self-employed and the owners of small businesses.

Small invited anyone affected by the new tax to attend a meeting in his home town of Lytham St Annes. At that meeting he put forward the idea of an organisation designed to promote the voice of the self-employed.

Similar meetings in other parts of the country followed and within nine months the NFSE had a membership of 25,000 with 200 new members joining every day.[2]

The current name for the organisation was adopted in 1991.

Lobbying

The FSB lobbies Government locally and nationally on behalf of small businesses. It regularly surveys its members to find out their views on the issues of the day.

Issues that the FSB lobbies on include:

Recent wins include: The introduction of a Government loan guarantee scheme, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, which is 75 per cent backed by the Government thanks to FSB lobbying. The scheme is aimed at small businesses which are having trouble accessing finance. The Coalition Government also introduced a moratorium on regulation - something the FSB has long been calling for.

Member benefits

The FSB delivers a range of business services to its members, such as:

Contacts

Head Office: 01253 336000

Westminster office: 020 7592 8100

Regions: Regional and branch contacts

External links

References

  1. ↑ "FSB London Awards". Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "A history of the FSB". fsb.org.uk. Retrieved 2007-05-12.