Enterprise minister uses LinkedIn to consult business owners

Business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk is using professional online network LinkedIn to gather feedback from entrepreneurs on the barriers holding back their companies.

The move follows several recent announcements by the government aimed at assisting small businesses including the appointment of Lord Young as enterprise advisor to prime minister David Cameron.

At the time of writing, Prisk's post on LinkedIn had received 76 responses. 

Among those who have commented is Paul Andrews, CEO of Jobsinkent.com. He said: "As far as start up finance is concerned we do need the high street banks to start lending again, but in all honesty they have never been really great at risk lending to start ups.

"What we need is a strengthening and bigger awareness of the Enterprise Investment Scheme [and] we urgently need changes to the corporation tax regulations to allow my business to invest in another business without doubling my tax liabilities for instance."

Also contributing was Richard Strudwick, head of enterprise education at Enterprise UK. "I, like many SMEs, entirely disregarded gov[ernment] contracts (when previously working for SMEs) as too time intense to take the risk of recieving nothing," he said.

"Look at the Big Lottery's new system of very short initial applications of interest that are then told whether it is worth taking on the full time-consuming application before they commit further man hours."

Sandra Patterson, another contributor, commented: "Employment legislation is almost impossible for an SME to comply with without employing a HR person or outside agency. The costs of which are usually unviable for a business with 1 or 2 employees."

Prisk's use of LinkedIn is not the first time the Conservative Party has used it. In February, Kenneth Clarke, the then shadow business secretary, used the website to gather feedback on the reintroduction of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, which during the 1980s provided £40 a week to people who wanted to get off the dole and start a their own company.

Social media is proving increasingly popular with politicians looking to connect with constituents. More than 200 MPs, for instance, are registered with Twitter.