Fri, 24 Jun 2011
Plans to provide tax breaks for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK have been backed by the European Commission.
It is hoped that the new measures will help SMEs recruit and retain highly skilled members of staff.
Staff retention during the economic recovery was recently highlighted as a major concern for companies in a recent study by Deloitte.
The accountancy firm found that 65 per cent of UK executives are either highly or very highly worried about whether their top members of staff will remain in their employ once the UK emerges from the recession.
Some 9,000 companies are set to benefit from the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme, it has been claimed.
Under the EMI, which has now been approved by the European Commission, SMEs will receive tax breaks for companies that offer share options to employees.
In addition, the EMI has made the criteria to enable UK firms with operations based overseas to take on more skilled staff based in Britain.
Ian Pearson, economic secretary to the Treasury said this was "excellent news" for SMEs.
He noted that the timing was particularly fortuitous because SMEs could be vital in the UK's emergence from recession.
"Long-term state aid approval of EMI provides certainty over the future of the scheme, whilst the relaxation of eligibility requirements will help SMEs with substantial international activities to recruit highly-skilled UK-based staff," he commented.
Firms looking for other ways to encourage workers to stay with them once the economy starts to recover should ensure that suitable training schemes are in place to develop workers.
Supermarket chain Asda recently announced record staff retention rates, something it attributed to the availability of development opportunities for staff.
To find out more how learndirect can help your business through the recession, see our redundancy support for your business section for more details.
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The learndirect team