Yesterday a letter was delivered to Tony Blair expressing the concerns of over 12,400 small businesses calling for a reduction in red tape.

The Red Tape Campaign was initiated last year to help raise awareness of the effect of legislation on businesses, particularly small and medium sized companies.

The letter was delivered by Peter Done, the managing director of employment law adviser Peninsula.
The letter states:

"Since your government came to power in May 1997 it has enacted over 180 separate pieces of legislation that are employment-based and affect all employers across the country. As some 82% of employers employ 10 members of staff or fewer, they are effectively 'one-man bands'. There is no way that these employers can keep up to date with that amount of legislation - let alone implement and comply with it."

Small business owners who have taken part in the campaign have shown overwhelmingly that they feel that the amount of red tape has a negative effect on their company, and that their time should be spent on running their business instead of complying with legislation and paperwork.