Budget 2011: Osborne's sop to SMEs

Chancellor George Osborne has set out an array of business-friendly measures as he looks to the private sector to rejuvenate the nation's economy.

This sop to the business world, announced in today's Budget, includes exempting SMEs form new regulations and the creation of new enterprise zones. Osborne, speaking in the Commons, said supporting private sector is "central to our economic ambitions. As well as confirming SMEs will be exempt from new regulations, he also pledged a radical overhaul of planning rules and the creation of 21 new enterprise zones which will enjoy tax breaks.