The ink is barely dry on Andy Burnham’s by-election victory and Britain’s small business community is already braced for what comes next.
Exclusive research shared with Business Matters reveals that the overwhelming majority of the country’s small and medium-sized enterprise owners are fearful about what the Greater Manchester mayor’s arrival in Westminster, and his widely tipped run at Number 10, could mean for their firms.
The study, conducted by Trends Research, surveyed 2,000 SME owners in the days since Burnham swept to victory at Makerfield last Thursday. More than 80% told researchers they were fearful about the implications for their business, a striking figure in a sector that accounts for more than 5.5 million firms and over 99% of the UK business population.
Burnham took the seat with almost 55% of the vote, seeing off Reform UK and handing himself the Commons platform that, under Labour rules, allows him to mount a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer. The mechanics of how a sitting metro mayor can also serve as an MP have been picked over in detail by the House of Commons Library, but for many business owners the constitutional fine print matters less than the policy direction it signals.
That anxiety has roots. Burnham has built his pitch on an interventionist, redistributive platform, and his name has been attached to proposals ranging from a land value tax to expanded local levies such as a tourist charge on overnight stays. For owner-managers already wrestling with higher employment costs, the prospect of a more activist Treasury is unsettling. Business confidence has been fragile for some time, as our reporting on how Labour’s tax decisions have dampened consumer and business sentiment has charted over recent months.
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