Members of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) were gathered in Brighton and Hove last week for their annual conference.

The conference attracted entrepreneurs from around the country and a number of high-profile politicians, including Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith and small business minister Nigel Griffiths.

Mr Duncan Smith attacked the Government for its treatment of small businesses, questioning whether Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt could "even run a bath", let alone a business.

He said: "Only a handful of Labour ministers have ever been involved with running a business."

He said many businesses were disillusioned by the red tape and taxation they had to deal with.

Mr Griffiths said he sympathised with the FSB's protests about red tape but couldn't offer any hope of the Chancellor abandoning the increase in national insurance contributions.

Small business ministers from both opposition parties told the Government to stop crippling business.

Henry Bellingham, the shadow small business minister, said: "The accumulated burden of red tape is £20.6 billion but it is not the individual burdens that do the damage but a combined weight."

But there was more to the conference than politics.

The search for the 2003 British Small Business Champion was launched to recognise the achievements of entrepreneurs and the contribution they make to the economy.

Six regional winners - including one from the South - will be selected to go through to the national final.

Wednesday March 26 2003