Business Link
Encyclopedia
Business Link is a government-funded business advice and guidance service in England. It consists of an online portal managed by HMRC, local/regional advisors (under the auspices of BIS
) and a national helpline.
, then President of the Board of Trade, when he was in charge of the Department of Trade and Industry and initially referred to as "One Stop Shop". The practical effect of the introduction of this service was for it to replace the then Department of Employment's, 'Small Firms Service'. There were plans to open 54 Business Links but, by the end of 1993 (during which time the government spent some £3m on the programme), only three branches of the service had been formed. The first opened in Leicester on 27 September 1993, with others following in Birmingham and Congleton
.
Five years after the launch of the Business Link concept, a network of 89 Business Links had been established, and each week some 10,000 businesses in England were using the service. The service employed about 650 personal business
advisors (PBAs), who worked mainly with businesses that employed between 10 and 200 people. The Business Links wanted PBAs to work with growth-oriented businesses but this proved difficult to enforce and implement . PBAs were recruited from those who ran businesses. At first some were self-employed earning commission but this did not prove to be self-sustaining .
Early business support in Scotland was called Scottish Business Shop. In Wales, the name was Business Connect, and in Northern Ireland, it was called Local Enterprise Development Unit.
Despite the evidence that it was the advisers who contributed to the impact of Business Link , the Coalition
government , elected in 2010, declared their intention to abolish the regional business adviser programs run by Business Links. The website would be retained, and new Local enterprise policies would take their place.
programme (an initiative to consolidated UK government websites). In 2010 it emerged that the site cost £35m a year to build and operate (totaling £105m so far). It is administered by the private company Serco, on behalf of the government.
The website proclaims to be government’s online resource for business, containing essential information, support and services for business. The strap line used on the site is: 'Information. Support. Compliance.'
Information on the site comes in the form of guides (pages of text information), interactive tools (in which businesses can get personalised information) and transactions (in which businesses can for example, calculate their VAT).
In 2010 the website launched an experimental wiki on some of the guides to allow visitors to add their own content. This experiment ran until the end of September 2010 but is no longer available on the site.
basis across England and is funded by the relevant Regional Development Agencies
(RDAs). The service uses an IDBT (information, diagnostic, brokerage and transaction) model to advise businesses. Regional Business Links run a variety of events and workshops on topical issues and general business skills.
This service was evaluated on a number of occasions
These assessments generally found positive impacts of Business Link on companies that received advice. However, some commentators worried about the cost of Business Link and the variability of advice . Some of the Business Links were chosen to provide more intensive support to fewer companies and these seemed to do comparatively well. Other Business Links showed less success with a 'spreading the jam thinly model'
The Business Link regional advisory service will continue to offer advice and support to businesses until November 2011. After this time the regional advisory service will be abolished along with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). The Business Link website and the national helpline will continue to operate. Local Enterprise Partnership
s (LEPs) will be expected to drive regional economic growth in the absence of the Business Link regional advisory service.
Regional providers use a rebranded version of the Business Link website.
Most OECD countries provide similar services although they may organize them differently from the SBDC in the USA to ALMI in Sweden.
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
) and a national helpline.
History
The concept for Business Link was established in December 1992 by Michael HeseltineMichael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
, then President of the Board of Trade, when he was in charge of the Department of Trade and Industry and initially referred to as "One Stop Shop". The practical effect of the introduction of this service was for it to replace the then Department of Employment's, 'Small Firms Service'. There were plans to open 54 Business Links but, by the end of 1993 (during which time the government spent some £3m on the programme), only three branches of the service had been formed. The first opened in Leicester on 27 September 1993, with others following in Birmingham and Congleton
Congleton
Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Dane, to the west of the Macclesfield Canal and 21 miles south of Manchester. It has a population of 25,750.-History:The first settlements in...
.
Five years after the launch of the Business Link concept, a network of 89 Business Links had been established, and each week some 10,000 businesses in England were using the service. The service employed about 650 personal business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
advisors (PBAs), who worked mainly with businesses that employed between 10 and 200 people. The Business Links wanted PBAs to work with growth-oriented businesses but this proved difficult to enforce and implement . PBAs were recruited from those who ran businesses. At first some were self-employed earning commission but this did not prove to be self-sustaining .
Early business support in Scotland was called Scottish Business Shop. In Wales, the name was Business Connect, and in Northern Ireland, it was called Local Enterprise Development Unit.
Despite the evidence that it was the advisers who contributed to the impact of Business Link , the Coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
government , elected in 2010, declared their intention to abolish the regional business adviser programs run by Business Links. The website would be retained, and new Local enterprise policies would take their place.
Website
The Business Link website was launched in May 2004 as part of the Transformational GovernmentTransformational Government
-Introduction:Transformational Government is a term which describes the use of computer-based information and communications technologies to enable radical improvement to the delivery of public services...
programme (an initiative to consolidated UK government websites). In 2010 it emerged that the site cost £35m a year to build and operate (totaling £105m so far). It is administered by the private company Serco, on behalf of the government.
The website proclaims to be government’s online resource for business, containing essential information, support and services for business. The strap line used on the site is: 'Information. Support. Compliance.'
Information on the site comes in the form of guides (pages of text information), interactive tools (in which businesses can get personalised information) and transactions (in which businesses can for example, calculate their VAT).
In 2010 the website launched an experimental wiki on some of the guides to allow visitors to add their own content. This experiment ran until the end of September 2010 but is no longer available on the site.
Regional network
Business Link’s face-to-face service operates on a regionalRegions of England
In England, the region is the highest tier of sub-national division used by central Government. Between 1994 and 2011, the nine regions had an administrative role in the implementation of UK Government policy, and as the areas covered by elected bodies...
basis across England and is funded by the relevant Regional Development Agencies
Regional Development Agency
In the United Kingdom, a regional development agency is a non-departmental public body established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of one of England's Government Office regions. There is one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England...
(RDAs). The service uses an IDBT (information, diagnostic, brokerage and transaction) model to advise businesses. Regional Business Links run a variety of events and workshops on topical issues and general business skills.
This service was evaluated on a number of occasions
These assessments generally found positive impacts of Business Link on companies that received advice. However, some commentators worried about the cost of Business Link and the variability of advice . Some of the Business Links were chosen to provide more intensive support to fewer companies and these seemed to do comparatively well. Other Business Links showed less success with a 'spreading the jam thinly model'
The Business Link regional advisory service will continue to offer advice and support to businesses until November 2011. After this time the regional advisory service will be abolished along with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). The Business Link website and the national helpline will continue to operate. Local Enterprise Partnership
Local enterprise partnership
Local enterprise partnerships will replace the eight regional development agencies outside Greater London in England, under the current Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government...
s (LEPs) will be expected to drive regional economic growth in the absence of the Business Link regional advisory service.
Public money
Various business link companies have engaged in direct competition with the private sector and with Governmental organisations such as ACAS. This includes the provision of employment law advice directly to businesses via cold calling, mail shots, emails and their websites. However, evaluations of Business Link showed that those taking advice from Business Link were thereafter more likely to work with private consultants as they learned about the benefits of adviceSimilar services
Business Link only operates in England, the remainder of the UK has similar regional services:- Business Gateway, Scotland
- nibusinessinfo, Northern Ireland (run by Invest Northern IrelandInvest Northern IrelandInvest Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland's regional economic development agency. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment...
) - Flexible Support for Business, Wales.
Regional providers use a rebranded version of the Business Link website.
Most OECD countries provide similar services although they may organize them differently from the SBDC in the USA to ALMI in Sweden.