SMALL businesses will play a crucial role in the recovery of country's economy, Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor of London for business and enterprise told local firms last Thursday.
Mr Malthouse stressd the importance of small firms to London as he toured the We Mean Business exhibition organised by Croydon branch of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) at Fairfield Halls.
In its fourth year, the exhibition has become established as the major showcase for small companies in the borough.
This year around 120 companies, a record number, ran stalls at the exhibition. They ranged from financial and computer services companies to chocolatiers and security and insurance firms.
The opportunity for companies to show off what they had to offer was backed up by a programme for seminars looking at social networking, getting websites right and how to make the best out of networking.
Mr Malthouse told the Advertiser: "Around 80 per cent of people working in London work for small businesses."
And in many ways, he said, they were more important to the capital's economy than large companies.
Councillor Vidhi Mohan, Croydon Council's cabinet member for communities and economic development, praised the FSB for organising the exhibition.
He said: "This is a fantastic event which is really important to Croydon. It demonstrates what a superb offer of businesses we have here in the borough."
Jeremy Frost, chairman of the FSB's Croydon branch, described the exhibition as the most successful yet.
He said: "The number of companies running stands was 20 per cent up last year and we had around 1,000 visitors, more than we have had before. I think this has been a good day for Croydon's small business community."
Mr Frost added he welcomed Mr Malthouse's aims to work to cut red tape.
He said: "There is obviously a need for regulation but we would like more of a light touch."
Too much regulation, he said, discouraged small businesses from taking the risk of making decisions to expand and create more jobs.
