Britain's small businesses are to get a Ј400m boost to their cash flow over the next three years and access to a new US-style enterprise capital fund to help bridge the "equity gap" for innovative start-up firms.
The chancellor, in a series of micro-measures to improve productivity, is also simplifying and extending research and development tax credit schemes in a move to encourage participation by hundreds of firms that have missed out.
Wedded to the American model of enterprise, Gordon Brown plans to set up "pathfinder" funds based on small business investment companies in the US.
These, co-funded by the government and the private sector, will come on top of venture capital trusts and the enterprise investment scheme which are designed to help firms meet funding gaps of up to Ј2m. The chancellor said he was considering withdrawing deferred liability for capital gains tax on venture capital trust investments from the start of the tax year on April 6...
