Business Improvement newsletter

helping small firms prosper and grow

June 2011

Welcome to the third edition of our newsletter about changes to the way the Government provides support to people who want to start and grow a business. Last month we saw, again, a significant increase in the number of subscribers to the newsletter. If you would like to subscribe or would like to see past issues, please click here. If you would like to forward this to someone else, please click here.

Support for companies with the potential to achieve high growth

In our earlier newsletters we said that we were seeking expressions of interest for bidding for the work to deliver the Business Coaching for Growth (BCG) service that will start in January 2012. The deadline for this has just passed, and we have had a huge amount of interest, with over 200 companies attending a supplier event.

During June we will be evaluating the bidders Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and then pulling together a shortlist of bidders we will invite to submit an outline proposal.

Supporting the development of a national mentoring network

People running businesses tell us frequently that the advice they value and trust most comes from other experienced business people. That is why there are already plenty of mentoring networks operating that benefit a huge range of businesses. This mentoring can take a wide variety of forms, including online, face-to face, one-to-one as well as groups and networks. It can also include both paid and unpaid mentoring, and cover both general and specialist advice. More information about the various forms in which mentoring can take place can be found here.

However, we know that more people would take part in mentoring if they knew more about the mentoring networks that they could tap into, the quality standards in existence, and if the many business people with the potential to mentor could step forward.

That is why we are working with the British Bankers Association (BBA) who are developing a portal to give people who want to mentor, and those who want to be mentored, a route to the type of mentoring which suits them best. It will aim to address the needs of small businesses, including start-ups, growing businesses and those seeking specialist financial mentoring. We are working with the banks, key business representative bodies, Institute of Enterprise & Entrepreneurs and others to encourage more business people to volunteer as mentors.

We are also working to raise the profile of mentoring and to encourage more people to both act as mentors and be mentored. We'll let you have more information in next month's newsletter, when the mentoring portal is due to go live.

Supporting people who want to start a business

The Business Startup Show was held at Excel, London from 19th-20th May and attended by thousands of businesses. BIS, Business Link and HMRC shared a stand which was visited by a steady stream of individuals seeking help to start up their businesses. People were keen to find out more about the new business improvement landscape and many expressed particular interest in mentoring. The teams demonstrated the Business Link website, directing people to sources of help and to the area specifically aimed at helping pre-start ups For further information on the show, please visit www.bstartup.com.

Recent activity

The Business Growth Fund was launched on 19 May to help small and medium-sized firms by providing long-term equity investment.

Retail consultant Mary Portas has been appointed to lead an independent review into the future of the high street.

Vince Cable gave a speech on 16 May setting out proposals on flexible working.

Mark Prisk gave a speech on 12 May launching Sheffield Local Enterprise Partnership.

Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fundis currently open.

Defra is asking businesses and investors for views on whether regulations should be introduced to make it mandatory for some UK companies to report on their greenhouse gas emissions in their directors’ reports. This is an open consultation which will consider three different options for mandatory reporting and one for voluntary reporting. The consultation ends on 5 July 2011. For more information, and to take part, click here

Useful links

Local Enterprise Partnerships - led by local authorities and businesses across natural economic areas. They provide the vision, knowledge and strategic leadership needed to drive sustainable private sector growth and job creation in their area.
Solutions for Business – find out more about the range of publicly funded products and services designed to help Businesses to identify and overcome key challenges as they grow, providing the assistance they need to improve when they need it most.
Enterprise Directorate – find out more about our work across Government and the regions to develop and influence policies to boost enterprise, start ups and small business growth

Connect with BIS

This newsletter will keep you up to date with progress on delivering the Business Improvement Programme to transform the way that people receive the information, advice and guidance they need to start and grow a business. BIS also publishes a Bulletin which sets out the wider work of BIS to build a dynamic and competitive economy. Click here if you would also like to subscribe to that.