SBS reassures small firms on business support changes
March 21, 2007
The Small Business Service (SBS) has reassured small firms in England that the 1 April switch from local to regional Business Links will have minimal impact on the support they receive.
"Small firms shouldn’t be concerned, they will continue to have easy access to government support," said SBS spokeswoman Michelle Wallington. "Business Links will remain the one access point for small-business support. It will be business as usual in terms of the help we provide to small firms."
Industry and Regions Minister, Margaret Hodge, said: "We realise that the current system is too complex, which is why we are continuing to streamline it. The move to regional Business Links is just part of this.
"We are simply following through on the pledge we made 18 months ago to streamline small-business support, by reducing the number of support organisations from 3,000 to less than 100 by 2020," she added.
From 1 April, five of England’s nine Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will switch from providing support through local, individual Business Links, to one central Business Link in each region.
The five RDAs are: East of England; East Midlands; North East; North West and West Midlands.
Elsewhere, the South West Development Agency is splitting into two local Business Links – covering the north and south of the region. The South East Development Agency will remain localised, while the London Development Agency has already moved to a regional format. Yorkshire Forward will change to one regional Business Link in April 2008.
In future, any business logging on to its local Business Link website will be automatically redirected through to a regional website.
"The move to a regional model will enable improvements in customer service and deliver better value for money for the public purse," said East Midlands Development Agency spokesman Mike Carr.
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