MORE than a third of the region's small and medium firms want the new government to focus on cutting red tape and regulation, new findings show.

According to the latest Close Brothers Business Barometer, a quarterly survey , 34 per cent of businesses put this at the top of their wish list. It also found that 22 per cent of those polled want to see action on late payments, while 12 per cent think a freeze on business rates would be the most beneficial type of support.

Mike Randall, Close Brothers Asset Finance chief executive, said: “The economy was a major focus for all of the main parties in the run up to the election, with the importance of SMEs recognised in terms of the role they will continue to play as the economy recovers.

“There was welcome news in the emergency budget that the annual investment allowance for SMEs will be permanently doubled, and that the rate of corporation tax will fall to 18 per cent by 2020.

“Our survey asked small and medium sized business owners what the most important issue was for the government to tackle on their behalf, and the majority response across each English region was a reduction in administrative burdens, or ‘red tape'."

Forty four per cent of Yorkshire firms surveyed said trading conditions were improving, with two fifths expecting to expand in the next 12 months.