ABSTRACT
The appointment of the Bolton Committee in 1969 to investigate the problems of small firms and to make recommendations signalled the beginnings of an overt small business policy by the British government. The publication of its report in November 1971 promoted an unprecedented interest in the small business sector, partly through its examination of hypotheses about the disadvantages widely thought to be suffered by small firms and partly through its recommendations for remedial action by government. 1 Many of the government measures covered by this article then began to emerge; and the genesis of public policy towards small business gained momentum.
