by Roger House, Federation of Small Business chairman, Kent and Medway region

Several threads over the last few weeks have demonstrated how critical the small and micro section of the economy is being seen.

Needless to say, we told you so. We have been flying the flag for this huge part of the economy – 94% – for years.

During November, the FSB sent a team into No10, of which I was pleased to be part.

It was by invitation and it was set to deliver the message of reality.

We spoke with the Prime Minister’s special adviser about the real issues we face at the coal face of the economy.

The group included a great mix of businesses both in terms of sector and in age of ownership.

We had with us three of the New Generation group the FSB is building. These are young entrepreneurs at the start of their business journeys.

The meeting focused on the Autumn Statement and went into the thorny subject of banking from the start.

The government, it seems, is increasingly keen to champion the emerging “challengers” in the industry such as the crowd-funding and peer-lending schemes.

The FSB has submitted its own paper, recently published, on the subject of crowd funding.

We heard some heartfelt case studies on the huge issue of late payments. Corporates arbitrarily issuing notice that they will defer payment for up to 120 days.

The government appears to be listening to this and is undertaking consultation with a possible route to introducing legislation at some stage.

We moved on to include the issue of broadband and the need for it to be readily available like other utilities. Without this approach, we are falling far behind other countries. We were told to expect a Government statement on this in the near future.

Business rates emerged as a key issue and, again, the government seems to be getting the message. But words need to be translated into actions.

When we took a closer look at the problem of the diminishing town centres, we covered issues such as parking, business rates and rents, and general accessibility.

Government, so we are told, is taking another look at the Portas report – but it is far better to talk to the likes of the FSB if they want to deliver the reality from street level.