The small business category expanded

Thousands of UK businesses will be released from reporting requirements and other regulations in the future. 

Currently, small businesses are presumed to be exempt from certain regulations. However, many medium-sized businesses (those with between 50 and 249 employees) still report that they are spending over 22 staff days per month on average dealing with regulation, and over half of all businesses consider regulation to be a burden to their operations.

The prime minister has announced plans to widen these exemptions to businesses with fewer than 500 employees in the future.

Regulatory exemptions are often granted for SMEs, which the EU defines as below 250 employees. 

The government states this exemption will be applied in a proportionate way to ensure workers’ rights and other standards will be protected, while at the same time reducing the burden for growing businesses.

See: Red tape cut for thousands of growing businesses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)