Business Links to close by November as government unveils new support measures

Posted by Dan Martin in Business trends, Regulation on Wed, 05/01/2011 - 11:06
Business Link logo

The regional elements of enterprise support service Business Link will close by 25 November with its paid advisers replaced by thousands of volunteer mentors, the government has revealed.

As part of a major overhaul of its business support structure, ministers said entrepreneurs previously served by England's Business Link advice centres will by supported by improved online services and a contact centre. 

The main Business Link website will be relaunched in April with new features including a "Business Startup Hub" providing access to company registration, a searchable database of government contracts, online training tools and "better, clearer information" on regulation. A national contact centre to help businesses who cannot find the information they need on the web or who are not connected to the internet will also be set up. 

Business Link's 1,600 paid advisers meanwhile will be replaced by a network of 40,000 unpaid mentors who the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said will offer "practical advice to existing businesses and people who want to start a business".

It is expected that the mentors will be confirmed by June when an online "Mentoring Gateway" will go live. Among the organisations talking to the government about providing mentors are Ecademy, Horsesmouth and the Prince's Trust.  

The unemployed are also being targeted as future entrepreneurs with the introduction of the National Enterprise Allowance (NEA). It will be launched in Merseyside later this month and rolled out nationwide in the Autumn. Around £50m is expected to be available.

The NEA will give people who have been unemployed financial support for their early months of self-employment, access to a start-up loan, and a mentor. The government claims up to 40,000 new businesses will be created through the scheme by 2013.

"Throughout this year and beyond we will be focused relentlessly on supporting growth and driving job creation across our economy," said prime minister David Cameron.
 
"Backing new enterprises to start up and small businesses to grow will be what transforms our economy and will deliver the many thousands of new jobs we will see created this year.
 
"It is vital that we ensure businesses, and those people who find themselves out of work but have the drive and desire to set up their own business, have all the advice, support and mentoring they need. Together we can make the years ahead some of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial in our history."
 
A BusinessZone.co.uk poll of over 500 business owners last July found that 61% believed the decision to scrap Business Link was a good one. 
 
UPDATE (15:50 05/01/11):
 
The government has published a document with a full list of the organisations which will be part of the new mentoring network. They are:
  • FreshIdeas
  • Bright Ideas Trust
  • Prince's Trust
  • Horsesmouth
  • School for Startups
  • Ecademy
  • Timebank
  • British Bankers' Association
  • Federation of Small Businesses
  • Institute of Directors 
  • Fredericks Foundation
  • Women in Rural Enterprise
  • Chartered Management Institute
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
  • TiE UK
  • Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants
  • British Chambers of Commerce
  • National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship
  • SFEDI
  • Forum for Private Business
  • CBI
  • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
  • Technology Strategy Board
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