I RECENTLY had the pleasure of visiting Clean Sweep in Alphington near Exeter and met with the owner, Beki Heath. Clean Sweep provides professional domestic cleaning services, including regular home cleaning, one-off cleans and end of tenancy services.

It is a well-established respected local business, and during my visit we had a valuable conversation that highlighted both the incredible resilience of small business owners and the very real challenges they face.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Across the UK, there are 5.7 million private sector businesses, and small and medium-sized enterprises account for 99.9 percent of them.

They employ 60 percent of the private sector workforce. In Central Devon, our local businesses like Clean Sweep are not just economic contributors but vital parts of our community.

Before I entered Parliament, I spent over 20 years building and growing businesses in the exhibitions, conferences and publishing sector.

I know firsthand what it takes to run a successful enterprise. I know the pressures of managing staff, controlling costs and keeping a business profitable.

That experience gives me a genuine insight into the challenges that business owners like Beki face every single day.

During my discussion with Beki, we talked extensively about staffing challenges and the significant impact of rising costs on her business.

One of the most pressing concerns she raised was the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.

From April 2025, the government increased the employer National Insurance rate from 13.8 percent to 15 percent while lowering the threshold from £9,100 to just £5,000 per year.

This represents a double blow to businesses already struggling with tight margins.

The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates these changes will add 2 percent to overall employer payroll costs. For a business employing someone on minimum wage, the National Insurance bill has jumped from £1,617 to £2,583 annually.

When you multiply this across multiple employees, the financial strain becomes enormous. Service businesses operating on narrow profit margins simply cannot absorb these kinds of cost increases without making difficult decisions about staffing levels, wages or prices.

The timing could not be worse. Small businesses are already grappling with inflation remaining above 3.5 percent (it was around half this under the last Conservative government), elevated energy costs and ongoing supply chain disruptions.

Recent data shows that year on year employment growth among UK small businesses dropped from 7.8 percent in December 2024 to just 2.5 percent in December 2025.

The retail and hospitality sectors, which are significant employers in our area, have been especially hard hit. In addition the government’s Employment Rights Bill is about to make hiring riskier and more expensive still.

The fundamental problem is that the government is piling costs onto businesses at a time when they can least afford it. Rather than supporting enterprise and job creation, current policies are actively hindering growth and employment.

Small businesses like Clean Sweep deserve better. They need a government that understands the realities of running a local service business and creates an environment where enterprise can flourish. I will continue to champion the concerns of our small business community.

Mel Stride

MP for Central Devon