Warnings of an “employment nightmare” for small companies, allied to an increase in the regulatory burden, characterised the downbeat reaction from business to the proposed legislative programme.

It contained little to enthuse corporate Britain and a substantial number of measures to cause, at best, concern. Business bodies privately expressed disappointment that ministerial pledges to improve Britain’s competitiveness through a light regulatory approach had somehow translated into a slew of bills that would simply add to the administrative burden, particularly for smaller companies.

Gordon Brown’s double whammy on employment rights – giving millions more staff rights to ask for flexible working or training, while promising equal treatment for agency workers – dominated business concerns.

The Federation of Small Businesses said the prime minister had put small businesses in an “impossible position,” with measures that would create an “employment nightmare”. Alan Tyrell, FSB employment chairman, said: “You can’t have an extension of flexible working and at the same time clamp down on the means by which many small businesses cope with it, which is often through temporary workers.”

Business accused the government of being too ready to make new legislation to extend employment rights. The Institute of Directors said employers “150 per cent” backed the government’s drive to increase flexible working and training. But it argued the “often counter-productive” tool of regulation was the wrong way to achieve this end. “It’s ironic,” Miles Templeman, director general of the IoD, told the Financial Times. “Employers are very supportive of flexible working and training ... but by bringing it in as a right, the danger is it becomes a burden for business, instead of an advantage.”

The EEF manufacturers’ body said the government was “in danger of undermining” its drive to cut red tape by proposing “yet another” series of regulatory requirements that “will inevitably create practical problems”.

The CBI struck an optimistic note, pointing out the right to request training could have been more onerous for industry. “Employers will be pleased that the government has ruled out compelling them to train staff irrespective of their circumstances,” Richard Lambert, director-general of the employers’ body, said.

Business reacted strongly to the proposed business rate supplements bill, giving legal force to plans set out last year to allow some local authorities to impose an extra levy on companies to fund economic development.

The British Chambers of Commerce said businesses would “buy into” the new system only if they had a vote on any proposals and full involvement in delivery of the resulting projects. “This must not turn into local authorities dictating terms to business,” David Frost, director general of the BCC, said.

The CBI applauded NHS reform plans: “Simply dispensing unprecedented levels of taxpayers’ cash without a matching level of reform has not worked.”

The banking reform bill was key: “It is a once-in-a-decade opportunity and the government needs to resist the temptation for swift legislation and ensure that the details are got right to strengthen the UK and its reputation,” Mr Lambert said.

Overall, with tax the core issue in the political battle for business, this prime ministerial vision is likely to help, not hinder, the determined Tory bid to woo the corporate vote from Labour.