JP WAS a French maître pâtissier from a family of six generations of artisan pastry bakers.

When his father passed away, his family faced a crisis. High inheritance taxes, a workforce whose contracts had been reduced by law from 45 to 30 hours, with no change in renumeration, they found it impossible to remain profitable.

At the time, French employment law protected the rights of their personnel to the point that, even burdened with unproductive employees, they had no chance of reducing their workforce.

The firm was forced into bankruptcy. JP emigrated. France’s loss was our gain, his mille-feuille are historic.

As of March 2023, there were an estimated 338,385 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Scotland. SMEs provided an estimated 1.2 million jobs, a staggering 55.9 per cent of private-sector employment. The revenue from these companies contributes wealth, stability and, dare I say, goodwill and wellbeing to our society. We can see the benefits on our high streets and in our towns: local small businesses providing services and products from which we all benefit.

From my involvement in my family businesses, I imagine my experience is not dissimilar to other SMEs, with 50-hour weeks, never-ending discussions about the business, reduced holidays and family time, sacrifices endured to make sure the business survives.

We all rely on SMEs, not least hairdressers, dentists, chiropodists, printers, painters, plumbers, builders and so on. Their motivation is often the same: to work hard, serve their customers well, build a reputation, support family, be independent and self-sufficient.

These entrepreneurs are our bricks and mortar. Many have not survived the challenges of the last decade. Increasing legislation and onerous employment responsibility, increasing the tax burden, thus reducing further their profitability, will inevitably disincentivise the very people who want to make a difference.

Governments must be wary of loading added pressure onto an already-overburdened sector. The business environment is becoming uncompetitive. We are at risk of forcing our SME entrepreneurs to leave, taking their skills to create wealth elsewhere.