Truss slashes regulation for thousands of newly-defined small companies

Bid to cut red tape and boost growth

Prime Minister Liz Truss is changing how a small business is defined to increase the amount of companies exempt from certain regulations, in a bid to cut red tape and boost economic growth.

From today (3 October), the government will widen regulation exemptions granted to small businesses to companies with fewer than 500 employees, widening the scope from the current limit of 250 workers. "By raising the definition of a small business, in terms of regulation, from 250 to 500 employees, we will be releasing 40,000 more businesses from future bureaucracy and the accompanying paperwork that is expensive and burdensome for all but the largest firms," the prime minister's office wrote in a statement. "Regulatory exemptions are often granted for SMEs, which the EU defines at b...