BIZ NEWS; Biz Bureau.

Byline: Tricia Phillips

SMALL businesses are wasting thousands of pounds paying for advice they can get for free.

Research from the Department For Business, Enterprise And Regulatory Reform shows that around pounds 100 million is being spent by small businesses every year on simple advice to help them manage their employer obligations.

One in 10 small businesses have paid an average of pounds 1,000 each for advice such as calculating staff holiday allowances, calculating staff NI contributions and writing contracts. Yet masses of free advice and simple tools to work out calculations on these and all other aspects of running a business are available on sites such as Business Link's at www.businesslink.gov.uk.

Lack of confidence is one of the key reasons firms splash out unnecessary cash, as more than half say they do not know enough, while almost a third (30%) worry they will get things wrong.

Minister for Employment Relations Pat McFadden says: "In a downturn every penny counts and we don't want small businesses spending on advice the Government provides free.

"I urge small businesses to familiarise themselves with the Business Link online resources."