Government Provides Support to Stop Businesses Failing

29th October 2008

Categories: Business Support

Government Provides a Package of Support to Help Business in Tough Economic Climate

Recognising that small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) employ 13.5 million people across the UK, and are therefore essential to the livelihoods of hardworking families, the goverment has announced a package of support to help businesses during this difficult economic climate.

The package, made available through Business Link, covers:

• A free one-to-one meeting with a Business Advisor, inlcuding a free Business Health Check to identify potential problems before they become a crisis.  The health check results in plans being drawn up by a qualified advisor to assist with cashflow, marketing and business planning.
• Access to training needs assessments, funding for training and advice on courses and providers through Train to Gain (see related article).
• Free financial information, from the  Institute of Credit Management, to help businesses improve their skills and financial management, especially around maintaining cash flow, securing finance and limiting problems caused by late or non-payment
• A commitment to recieve payments within 10 days for firms supplying the public sector, eg the NHS, local authorities and the regional development agencies.

Business lending promised at 2007 levels

In addition, the government has made it a condition of the recapitalisation of banks that they continue to provide access to loans and credit and continue to market the availability of these services to businesses at the same levels as in 2007, providing much need access to cash funds. 

A quote from the Department of Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR - formerly the DTI) says, "The government has brokered contact between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and UK banks to ensure that the £24 billion facility announced by EIB over four years is made available for immediate access in the UK. The four largest UK banks have now signalled their initial interest to negotiate loans totalling about £1bn."

How to access the help and support

If you would like information about any of the support or issues mentioned here then contact Business Link North East on 0845 600 9 006.

You may also like to see:

• Rules Relaxed Around Grants for Training For SMEs

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