According to figures recently released by the UK's Federation of Small Businesses, SMEs and micro-businesses were hard hit in the final quarter of last year by a combination of factors, including increased utility bills, high inflation, and reduced consumer spending power.

The FSB's 'Voice of Small Business' Index, compiled using 1,600 responses from small businesses, recorded its lowest level since the Index was launched in 2010, and showed a significant fall in confidence over the quarter, leading the Federation to observe that:

"Given that economic recovery is relying on business investment to create jobs and support the recovery, the ongoing weak sentiment is worrying."

According to the FSB's findings, one in eight of the firms polled expect the economic situation to decline further in the coming three months. The FSB is therefore calling on the Government to act on policies and initiatives already that it has announced, for example in its growth reviews and in the Autumn Statement, to help boost small business confidence.

These include measures to encourage bank lending to small businesses and boost investment through the seed enterprise investment scheme, proposed reforms to the planning system and planned changes to government procurement contracts to increase small firms' access.

It is also hoped that as the impact of last year's VAT increase lessens, and recent reductions in energy prices kick in, inflation levels should fall, improving the profitability of currently struggling small businesses.

The Federation observed that:

"However, many of these measures will take time to feed-in. The key now for all levels of government is to focus on implementation: small firms need to see action to match the rhetoric and to see tangible actions that will benefit their businesses and permanently change the business environment for the better. "

John Walker, National Chairman, went on to add that:

"Small firms have heard what the Government has to say but are still waiting to see implementation. We believe that must be the Government's priority: to make 2012 the year of doing, with the aim of creating a dynamic business landscape in which our entrepreneurs can grow and flourish."

In other small business news, the StartUp Britain campaign, launched in March 2011 by the Prime Minister (with private sector support from sponsors AXA, Dell, Intuit, PayPal, Intel and X.commerce) revealed that it has launched a new resource to help entrepreneurs find inspiration through enterprise events and initiatives around the country, the StartUp 2012 Enterprise Calendar.

According to the campaign:

"One of the key aims of the Enterprise Calendar is to provide practical opportunities for aspirant entrepreneurs and those wishing to grow their own business to find content and ideas to inspire through relevant events."

Entrepreneurs and event organisers are being encouraged to upload their own events onto the calendar on the StartUp Britain website.

Rajeeb Dey, entrepreneur and co-founder of StartUp Britain explained that:

“The Enterprise Calendar is about helping businesses go for it. It will shine a spotlight on the broad range of plentiful resources that exist for people wanting to start or grow a business in 2012. This will be a unique asset for small businesses to search for and find relevant events in their area and plan their year ahead. 2012 promises to be a very exciting year for enterprise – never has there been a better time to go for it in business.”