Just under three-fifths (58%) of UK small and medium-sized businesses want employment legislation to be relaxed to allow them to fulfil labour solutions to support growth plans.

This is according to professional recruiter Barclay Meade’s quarterly ‘Tracking UK Recruitment’ report, which interviewed 300 owners and directors of small and medium-sized business across the business services, financial services, manufacturing and supply chain industries.

It also shows that the majority (54%) of owners agreed with the controversial proposals in Adrian Beecroft's government-commissioned report on UK employment laws, which includes the recommendation for no-fault dismissals, with only 23% of businesses rejecting it.

Optimism among business owners is also waning, with only 18% of firms reporting they are more positive about recruitment now than in the previous quarter, and just 41% were optimistic about the UK economy, the lowest level since the tracker began in Q3 2010.

After Q1 saw the first fall in the number of recruitment freezes in a year, down to just 13% of companies, in Q2 this nearly doubled back up to 22%. But 47% of companies were still hiring at pre-recession levels.

Nigel Lynn, managing director at Barclay Meade, says: “The government should be now be focusing on easing red tape for businesses, including relaxing employment legislation, which would help stimulate hiring activity if supported by greater periods of sustained economic prosperity.”