BRUCE GREIG found it very easy to set up his business, 0800handyman, but he admits that he finds some government regulations a waste of time.

The 30-year-old entrepreneur started his London-based handyman service in 2001, and although he insists that red tape is “not as horrendously burdensome as people make out”, he believes that much of the health and safety legislation is ineffectual.

“I would start up another business in the UK,” he says. “It is very easy to set up a business here compared to other countries. Business is loosely regulated, compliance is minimal and the tax regime is relaxed. This is not the case in many other countries. Even in the US, where we have this idea of unbridled capitalism, business is heavily regulated.”

Mr Greig, who has a staff of 30, says that some requirements add nothing to his workers’ safety and that interpretation of some health and safety laws is shifting the weight of responsibility on to employers and away from employees.

He is “generally averse to imposing paperwork on our staff”, but a recent incident in which a handyman cut himself with a Stanley knife prompted action. All employees had to sign a declaration that they had been issued with gloves, goggles and other safety gear and knew how to use them.

Mr Greig said: “[The employee] understood it was his fault for not wearing gloves, but there is the chance that we could fall foul of the law and could be penalised for not telling him sternly enough to wear gloves.”

The former marketing consultant also questions the regulation for portable appliance testing. “We use cordless power tools. The electronics are quite robust. The inspections that we have to regularly conduct on them are a pointless exercise and waste of time.”