Business groups have joined forces to protest against the government's planned 1% increase in National Insurance contributions, which they claim will force employers to recruit fewer staff and even lead to job cuts.
Launching a petition, which was backed up with a letter to the Daily Telegraph, the organisations called on ministers to find alternative ways of closing the UK’s budget deficit. The letter said while businesses understood that it was imperative for the government to begin the difficult job of repairing the public finances, "this NICs increase is a tax on jobs and will discourage companies of all sizes from taking on new staff at a critical point in our economic recovery".
Additional taxes on businesses, and especially small-to-medium companies, "must be a last resort, not an easy way forward", the letter added.
Dragons' Den judges James Caan and Deborah Meaden and social entrepreneur Karen Darby are some of the successful entrepreneurs who feature in our exclusive videos. 
Join our social media discussion group and share your Twitter username with other BusinessZone members. 
We've got lots of free books to give away; all you've got to do is review them! 
We're putting together a list of business owners' must-haves.